The Ocean's Daughter
by BookwormFangirl3712
Summary: Twin Children of any god are bound to be trouble, But what will it be like for Sasha and Ryan Brooke when they discover their father is one of the Big three? Even worse-The gods have been informed of another prophecy, one that tells of a relationship between two children of the big three that could bring the end of the world. And where does all of this leave Sasha?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Sasha struggled for air as the monster held her by her neck up off the ground, suffocating her slowly. It had millions of eyes all in a big glob at the top of his head like a bunch of grapes. Gasping and sputtering, Sasha could feel the need for oxygen killing her gradually. The monster opened its purple lips, baring its fangs, as sharp as a butcher's knives. Kicking weakly in a failing attempt to be freed, Sasha braced herself as the demon leaned so close Sasha could feel its breath on her shoulder, reeking of rotten meat and blood. Just when she thought the demon's fangs would pierce the skin between her neck and shoulder, it spoke.  
"Sasha, wake _UP_ or I'm getting freezing cold water and dumping it on your head!" Sasha's annoying brother's voice pierced through her dream, and she sighed, exasperated. "Ryan, get OUT OF MY ROOM." Sasha snapped, opening her eyes. The light coming through the open window blinded her momentarily, and it took a few seconds for the spots dancing above her eyes to disappear and her vision to clear. She was in her bedroom, and Ryan was sitting on the foot of her bed, poised as if he had just been about to hit her in the face with a pillow. Muttering, she kicked him and he fell of the bed, tumbling to the ground. He stood up, cursing, and tossed Sasha the pillow, leaving the room. She groaned and fell back down on the bed, head throbbing. She could still feel the monster's breath tickling her neck, it's fangs centimeters from her skin. Exhausted, She closed her eyes, only to see the horrific face of the monster leering down at her as it strangled her to death, and she opened her eyes abruptly. Sighing, she kicked the blanket off her and tossed her feet over the side of her bed, rising slowly from the mattress. She dressed in her school's uniform: A navy blue skirt that went down to her ankles and was so grandma-ish she always pulled it up so it was just above her knees, a light blue polo shirt under her school's navy blue sweater, and her navy letterman jacket with the school's emblem of dove battling a vulture stitched over the breast. She slipped on her black combat boots and stole her way downstairs, pouring herself a bowl of cereal and taking her usual seat next to Ryan at the kitchen table. She barely paid attention as she took bite after bite of her Lucky Charms. "Hell-O? Earth to Sasha?" Ryan said, waving a hand across her face. She rolled her eyes and smacked his hand away. "What?" She asked. He sneered, and Sasha rolled her eyes. Although she couldn't deny that her brother was cute, the effect was kind of ruined with the ugly gray school pants and the red sweater and wrinkled tie. She scrunched her nose and stood up, dumping her plate in the sink on the way out the kitchen. She stood up and made her way to the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth and did her hair up in her usual messy bun, making her chocolate locks a swirl of brown atop her head. Unsatisfied, she pulled out a strand of her hair and let it hand down her shoulder, the wavy texture looking more like a fully formed curl alone then a wavy strand of hair. Smiling, she shouldered her backpack, grabbed the latest book she had been reading, and waited by the door for her brother and her mom. Her brother had done his hair today so it was spiky like a metal singer's, and Sasha gagged. "Exactly how much hair product did you PUT in...that...thing?" She questioned, and he scrunched up his nose, imitating her disgusted face. "it's COOL. And what would you know about looks, anyways?" Sasha snorted. "More than you, obviously." She reached up and messed up his hair a little bit, ignoring his protests. Once pleased, she pulled her hand away, smiling. Ryan turned to look at Sasha's work in the mirror, then shrugged, obviously happy with her work but too prideful to admit it. "You're welcome" She teased. "Shut up." "Come on guys, let's go." Their mom. She had walked in and was dressed in her typical work suit. Pastel blazer and pants, white shirt, a little black purse, and black heels that clicked as she walked. All in all, Sasha hated her mom's wardrobe. Like, okay, she was a lawyer, she had to dress professionally, but she COULD at least wear those cute mini-blazers or even some comfortable flats every once in a while. Her mother's blonde hair was pulled up into a perfect bun, swirled to perfection. Not for the first time, Sasha couldn't help but wonder where her dark hair came from. Her father wasn't dark haired, or her grandparents on either side. Ryan was fair haired too, with short light brown hair that he usually did into the surfer 'do. Sasha made her way out the door, grabbing the door to the passenger seat of the car and jumping in before Ryan even had a chance to protest. She put in her ear buds and cranked up the music on her phone, finding her spot in her book and slipping away to her own little world as her mom drove them down to school.

"Seriously Sasha, what is UP with your hair?!" Andrea cried, appalled by Sasha's messy bun. Bored, Sasha shoved her Literature books in her locker and slammed it shut, making her way along the hall with her best friend to home ed. "Andrea, why do you always say that? I'm never doing my hair any other way." Although Sasha loved Andrea, sometimes she was seriously, seriously annoying. She loved to read, like Sasha, and they shared a common interest in multiple different series, but one thing they could never agree on was how Sasha did her hair. Andrea always insisted that Sasha's wavy dark hair looked beautiful when she let it fall down her shoulders freely, but Sasha preferred to have it out of her way. Plus, Sasha always felt self-conscious about her looks. She found Andrea to be really pretty; she had perfectly straight hair, a beautiful red-brown color, and warm brown eyes. "Look, I know you never like to fix it up, but there's this new guy in your algebra class, and he is SO H.O.T. Hot! Really Sash, and he's TOTALLY your type." Sasha raised an eyebrow. "I didn't even realize I _had _a type." She argued. "Sure you do. You're all into the mysterious bad-boy kind of guys. That's why you're so googly-eyed over Matt Bray." Andrea said, elbowing Sasha lightly and giggling. Sasha stared at her friend. "What?" Andrea asked, and Sasha shook her head. "You're so odd." She said, pushing open the door to home ed. and stepping in, Andrea right behind her.

Sasha and Andrea didn't have free period at the same time, so usually Sasha spent her time in the library or with Mikeal. Mikeal was Andrea's boyfriend and usually was pretty nice to Sasha, so they had begun to hang out, but today Sasha decided to stay in study hall and finish up a last-minute book report. "This seat taken?" Someone asked behind her, just as she was finishing analyzing 'Romeo & Juliette'. Sasha whirled to see a boy with shaggy black hair like shadows falling down into his eyes and a black leather jacket, black jeans, and black combat boots. Sasha raised an eyebrow. "Uhm...I don't know." He smiled, and his teeth were a dazzling white. Sasha immediately realized this was the new kid Andrea had been talking about and suddenly regretted not taking her best friend's advice about her hair; she was pretty sure she looked like she'd just rolled out of bed. "Well, would you mind if I sat here?" He asked, and Sasha shrugged. "I don't care." She turned back to her computer, pretending to be working on her essay she'd already finished, blushing wildly. He sat down next to her and turned to his computer, opening Google and typing in something Sasha couldn't make out. "You like archery?" He asked, and Sasha turned to him. "How'd you guess?" he pointed to a page she had opened while doing her research. "That's a great company. If you were thinking of taking lessons with anyone, I recommend them." Sasha raised an eyebrow. "How would you know?" The boy shrugged. "But I think it's a better use of time to try fencing. It's almost exactly like sword-fighting, and more useful if someone tries attacking you." "Actually, Archery is a more strategic choice for defense. You protect yourself from a distance." Sasha argued, and the boy rolled his eyes. "Right, _if_ you happen to have a bow and some arrows handy. And who do you know who travels around with a bow and arrow on their back for emergencies?" Sasha rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like someone would carry around a spare sword everywhere they went." She argued, and Nico shrugged. "I'm new, by the way." He told her, and Sasha smiled pitifully. "Yeah, I know how that feels. Well, welcome. And if you need anything, I'm Sasha, I think we're in the same algebra class." He nodded. "I'm Nico. Can I ask you a random question?" Sasha raised an eyebrow. "Uhm...go ahead?" "Do you know anyone dyslexic that goes to this school?" Sasha tensed, and her shoulders set. For her, dyslexia was a pretty touchy topic. "No." She replied simply, an edge in her voice. Nico raised an eyebrow, obviously totally aware she was lying, but didn't question her further. She turned away from him and plugged her flash drive into the computer, saving her paper onto it. All she wanted was to get out of the library and away from Nico. He was...strange. And although she couldn't deny the fact that he really was extremely cute, she knew he was trouble. Which Sasha found slightly ironic, because she knew that when Andrea had teased her about having a type she hadn't been wrong. Sasha realized that Nico was _definitely_ her type, and that should have made Sasha into him even more. But there was something about him that stirred odd feelings inside Sasha. And she had the sneaking suspicion that one of those feelings was fear. She shook her head, deciding not to think about it, and made her way to French.

-  
A.N.: Yay! My first chappie~! This is a CHB fanfic between most of the characters from the PJO series, a few from the Heroes of Olympus, and some OC's of mine. Now Sasha doesn't reach camp until around the 3rd of 4th chapter, please be patient with me :)) So In this fic, I won't be mentioning ANYTHING from the Heroes of Olympus other than the characters. Simply because it doesn't go well with my story. But I hope you enjoy it anyways! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Sasha was dreading algebra, and when the class came, she found herself procrastinating in everything she did to elongate her time before having to enter the class. _'This is ridiculous,'_ she thought, _'He's just some guy. Plus he's NEW. What the heck are you worried about!?'_ But she knew exactly what she was worried about. That odd, wrong feeling she'd felt when she'd been with him before. And she didn't want to have to deal with that any more than she had to. She decided to ask if she could sign up for pre-algebra just to move up and get out of his class. In the meantime, however, she had to suck it up and make-do. Even though, she lingered outside the classroom door a few extra minutes. Then, after seeing him seated at the desk next to the one assigned as hers, she muttered a curse and looked up at her hair, sighing and pulling it out of the bun before pushing open the door of the classroom. "Ah, Miss Brooke, it's so nice of you to finally decide to join us." Her teacher's voice dripped with sarcasm and a few of the students stifled laughter. Sasha rolled her eyes, dropping her books onto her desk with a loud thud, just because she knew it annoyed her teacher. "Sorry, I was at the principal's." She said, which, in truth, was a total and complete lie. "Hmpf. Not surprising." Her teacher muttered as she turned back to the board to continue writing whatever she'd been explaining before. Sasha clenched her fists at her sides and muttered, opening her copybook and grabbing a pen. "If _A_ equals 9 times the square root of 4, after deducing 5 to the third power,_ A_ equals what? Sasha?" Sasha, who had not been paying ANY attention to what the teacher had been explaining, –thank her ADHD, by the way—only began to pay attention when she heard her name called. "Uh..._W_?" She guessed, and the classroom burst into laughter. Well, everyone with the exceptions of her teacher and Nico. Sasha blushed and shrugged as her teacher glared at her. "Miss Brooke, see me after class." Sasha nodded, trying to look like it didn't matter, but inside she was freaking out. She was already on probation and had been suspended for 3 days before in just these past 2 months since school had started. Her mom would _so_ kill her if she got herself into any more trouble. Nico turned to her, and his expression morphed into one of fear, but he masked it so quickly Sasha couldn't help but wonder if she'd imagined it to begin with. He slipped her a note while the teacher wasn't looking. _'Don't stay after class. I need to talk to you.'_ Confused, she wrote back to him. _'You can wait till she's done with talking to me, can't you? If I blow her off I'll just get into _more_ trouble.' _ He ran a hand through his air as if Sasha was being difficult and scribbled down a response, passing her the note and turning back to taking notes. Sasha opened it and saw he'd responded saying, _'Ugh. Fien. Stay. But then I'm staying too.'_ Sasha figured that by 'fien' he had meant 'fine', but his dyslexia had messed him up. Appalled, her pen raced across the paper, forming the words, _'Uhm, no, you're not.'_ He read it and glared at her, then ripped it. She shot him a look that said _'I mean it. Back off.'_ And he slammed his palm against his forehead, glaring at her through his fingers. Finally he nodded. _'How __**dare**__ he?!'_ Sasha thought. _'I don't even __KNOW__ the dweeb!_' She continued to sulk inside her own mind until the final bell. She waited as her classmates filed out anxiously, desperate to leave the godforsaken place known as 'school'. Nico was the last to leave. He lingered in the open doorway, glancing from Sasha to their teacher several times before finally shooting one last look at their teacher and leaving, closing the door behind him. She knew, though, that he hadn't really left and he was lingering right outside the doorway. _'Dude, what's your TRIP!?'_ She thought, rolling her eyes and turning to face her teacher. She raised an eyebrow when she caught a glimpse of her baring her teeth at the doorway. It looked pretty funny, since the teacher's face was all wrinkled and shriveled like a dried plum, and her teeth were a nasty yellow, which did not at all give off the 'fear factor' she figured the teacher had been going for. turned to look at her then and glared. She turned back to the doorway quickly then back to Sasha, and made something like a hissing noise. "Forget it." She mumbled, which Sasha took as a dismissal. Totally and completely confused, Sasha shook her head and walked out of the classroom. "What'd she say?" Sasha jumped. Nico's voice had come from_ right behind her_, and when she turned around, he was standing a mere couple of inches away from her, although she could have sworn he hadn't been behind her just a moment before. She shrugged. "Nothing. I think she was aggravated you were out here." Nico shrugged. "She should have been. Don't stay with alone Sasha, alright?" Sasha raised an eyebrow. "Why not? She's just a teacher." Nico laughed. "You'd be surprised." Emerging onto the front steps of the school, the first thing in her sights was the black sequoia her driver picked her and her brother in. The passenger door opened and Ryan got out, walking towards them. Nico nodded to him. "Hey Ryan." He greeted him, and Ryan shot the other boy a disgusted look. "I didn't know you met my brother," Sasha said to Nico, completely feeling out of the loop. "I didn't know he'd met you either, Sasha." Ryan said, glaring at Nico. He turned to Sasha. "Come on. Let's go." He said, grabbing his sister's hand and hauling her down the steps. "Ryan—Ryan! Let go of my wrist! Dear God, you're HURTING me!" She pulled her hand back and glared at Ryan. They were now out of earshot; Nico was too far away to hear whatever they said. "What gives?!" She demanded, turning to see if she'd spoken too loud and Nico actually COULD hear them, but he was gone. "Look, Nico's new, and he seems cool and all, but he's got a bad reputation, alright? Stay away from him." Sasha stared incredulously at her brother. "And since when do you order me around?" She asked, and he glared at her. "Just listen to me, alright?" He said, and Sasha raised an eyebrow. "No. I can do whatever I want, especially since I'm older than you. You don't have any right to boss me around." Ryan sneered. "Sasha, you're so stupid. You're only 2 minutes older than me, first, and second, I know what I'm talking about, alright? God." He turned away from her and hopped into the passenger seat. Throwing her hands up in exasperation, Sasha opened the door to the back seats and hopped in.

The ride home was pretty boring. Sasha's brother had put in his ear buds and was completely absorbed in his own little world. Their driver was no fun; he never uttered a word. Sasha didn't even know what his name was. He had a tuft of blonde hair atop his head, which, in retrospect, looked like the fakest toupee Sasha had ever seen. He had pale blue eyes, and he always seemed to be looking at Sasha oddly. Sasha, feeling extremely uncomfortable, stared out the window and watched the New York scenery pass by. Soon they a pulled in to their familiar neighborhood and down the long narrow street leading to their house. Their family lived in one of the high-end neighborhoods of New York, and usually Sasha found it to be oddly deserted. She shouldered her backpack and took out her house key, slipping it into the familiar lock on the front door and shouldering the wooden door open. The house was the same spotless, picture-perfect home it always was. A perfectly arranged bookshelf, white couches with pillows placed delicately into their proper positions, gleaming clean tiled and wood floors, a fireplace, and a sleek stairway leading to the higher two floors of the house. Off to the right, just next to the stairway, veered the long hallway decorated with multiple different paintings and such, leading to the kitchen, the bathroom, and the other parts of the house. Sasha dropped her backpack off by the front door and made her way to the den, plopping down onto the plush couch and switching on the TV.

The rest of Friday was pretty boring. The next morning Sasha was supposed to meet Andrea for brunch, so Sasha woke up earlier than she usually did on Saturdays. She picked her favorite pair of casual, faded, light blue skinny jeans and a turquoise top with butterfly sleeves. She yanked her brush through her hair then delicately did it into a French braid. Slipping on her black high tops she grabbed her phone and wallet, making her way to the door. She'd told their driver yesterday that she needed him to be at the house at 8:30, and he'd nodded, which she'd assumed meant he had understood. She slipped out of the house, locking the door behind her and making her way down the steps to the familiar black sequoia. She hopped into the passenger seat and told the driver the name of the restaurant, and soon they were peeling out of the driveway and were caught in the jumble of morning traffic in New York. Watching the scenery pass by through her open widow, she caught the scent of fresh-baked bread as they drove past a patisserie, which did nothing but make her stomach rumble with longing. Soon they were speeding up Houston until the driver pulled over at a little bistro down a side street. She thanked the driver as she got out of the car and told him she'd call him 30 minutes before she wanted to leave, and he nodded before driving away. She walked up to the little bistro and noticed it looked shockingly similar to a little house. The steps at the entrance led up to a little patio with three tables for people to sit and eat, and as Sasha walked in one of those little door chimes sounded. An elder woman came forward. She was dressed in a flower-print dress with knee high socks and black school girl shoes. Her white hair was pulled up into a loosely done bun, with a chopstick stuck thorough it. In other words, her outfit matched perfectly to her little shop. The walls of the little coffee-shop were painted a pale pink, faded slightly with age. All the tables in the room were decorated with a white table cloth and a vase of bright pink flowers. The wall on the far end of the room was decorated with an old looking bookshelf that was hastily arranged with the books shoved in. The wall directly to her right had a little cabinet fillet with china and glasses. "Hello dear. How may I help you?" The woman asked, and Sasha smiled. "Hi, yes. My friend made reservations under Andrea Richards?" The woman nodded knowingly. "Ah yes, she arrived just a few minutes before you. Right this way." The old woman led her up some old wooden stairs to the second floor, which was much more modernized than the first floor. The walls were all glass, and on a dark day like this one, the natural light gave an unusually unnatural, distorted effect. The tables were arranged all across the room, and some of the tables had red plush couches as seats as opposed to dark redwood chairs. The whole place smelled like coffee and fresh baked muffins, and Sasha's stomach contracted. She found Andrea seated at one of the couches, overlooking the street below through the window and sipping at coffee in a mug. When she saw Sasha, she smiled and moved to make room for her on the couch. Sasha took her seat next to her and ordered a vanilla cappuccino and a raspberry muffin. "Sasha you look like you were caught in a stampede of elephants." Andrea commented, and Sasha rolled her eyes. "Thanks. I feel extremely better now." Sasha said, taking a piece of her friend's cheese croissant and popping it into her mouth. The cheese was still gooey, and the warm bread melted in her mouth. "Sash, what HAPPENED to you?" She asked, and Sasha shrugged, turning to gaze out the window. "I didn't sleep." She answered simply. "At all?" Sasha shook her head, turning to look back at her best friend. She had her hair done up into a high ponytail and was wearing pale pink lipgloss. He thick dark lashes framed her eyes beautifully and Sasha felt a twinge of envy. Her eyelashes never looked like that, instead she had thin lashes that, if they weren't so dark, you wouldn't even know were there. Andrea was wearing a purple cold shoulder long sleeve shirt and white boot-cut jeans, with gray ballerinas. Andrea may be a nightmare to play volleyball or soccer, or even tennis against, but you could never tell if you hadn't actually seen her play. Her figure was so petite and feminine, if you looked at her you would believe that if she even tried to play sports she'd get crushed like a bug. The old woman returned with Sasha's coffee and muffin and Sasha took a sip at her drink, recoiling as it burnt her tongue. She set it back down to let it cool off and went for the muffin. It was gooey and warm, as the croissant had been, and soon Sasha had finished it. Throughout this time, she and Andrea had been talking about what had happened in different classes or how hard the biology test was or things like that, until Andrea brought up Nico. "So what's up with you and Mr. Mystery?" She asked curiously, and Sasha nearly spit out the coffee she was drinking, which would have been a shame, because it was really good coffee. "What?!" Sasha asked, her voice maybe a bit too loud, but thankfully, there was no one there but the two of them. "Well, yeah. Mikeal told me that he saw you two after school walking out of the building together, then Ryan like jumped into the picture and pulled you away, and you were all upset." Sasha rolled her eyes. Just like his girlfriend, Mikeal was a major gossip. No wonder they were so good together. "No, that's not what happened. We were both told to stay in after class to talk to , and we both came out of the school a little later. Ryan was pissed because he had basketball practice and I was making him late and I was annoyed because Ryan is a pain in the ass." Sasha explained, only telling a slight lie. Nico hadn't been asked to stay after class, and, in fact, the teacher had specifically told him to go. But Andrea didn't need to know that. "Oh, well how was Algebra with him? Is he not as cute as I told you he is?" Andrea asked, rapidly switching to another topic. "Uh...He's all right, but he's not _'my type'_ like you claimed. To be honest, I'm still not too sure I even have a type." She said, shrugging. No, it wasn't that she didn't trust Andrea. It was just that she had no intentions of seeming odd because Nico made her feel uncomfortable. She knew what Andrea would tell her: _'Since when does Sasha Pallas Brooke feel uncomfortable around boys? Around anyone, for that matter?' _And she would be right; Sasha had never been nervous around people before, but there was something about Nico that just made her skin crawl and gave her goosebumps. Based on her expression, Andrea didn't find Sasha's answer satisfactory. "Sure you like him, you're just not sure if he likes you back." She stated, and Sasha rolled her eyes. "Andrea-" "Nope. I've known you since you were two. That's fourteen years. I ought to know what kind of guys you're into." Sasha smiled and shook her head. "Whatever." They sat in silence for a few minutes, staring out the window, when they heard the _ding_ of the bell at the front door. "That's odd," Andrea said, "Did you see anyone coming towards the restaurant?" Sasha shook her head. "No, I didnt." Moments later Nico was walking up the stairs, and when he caught sight of Andrea and Sasha began to walk towards them. "Hey...Andrea, right?" He asked, and Andrea nodded. "Yeah, hey. Actually, I think I should go call Mikeal, so I'll be right back." And with that Andrea left, totally ditching Sasha and leaving her alone with Nico, although she was undoubtedly listening from the stairs. Sasha made an irritated mental note that in order to call Mikeal, Andrea would have needed her phone, which she had carelessly left on the coffee table. Nico noticed it too and rolled his eyes, taking Andrea's seat. "You left these at school yesterday." He told her, handing her a set of black ear buds. "Thanks." She said, taking them gratefully. Nico nodded and turned to look out the window, giving Sasha a perfect view of his profile. His eyes framed by thick black lashes that seemed to cast long shadows across his eyes, his dark, pitch black eyes, so black Sasha couldn't even identify his pupil, His olive complexion that gave off the impression he was middle-eastern or European. His hair fell down so it slightly covered his eyes, but not entirely. He was wearing the same style clothes he had been wearing yesterday: Black aviator jacket, black shirt, dark black jeans, black converse. He was also wearing a silver skull ring around his middle finger, with two gleaming black stones as eyes. "How'd you not get in trouble?" She asked randomly. He turned to her, puzzeled. "In trouble for what?" "For not wearing the school uniform yesterday. The headmaster would KILL me if she saw me with even so much as the wrong colored socks." She said, and Nico smiled. "It was my first day, they didn't mind. But I'll be damned if I ever get caught in that gods forsaken uniform." He told her, and Sasha laughed. "It is pretty ugly." She agreed, and Nico, who had averted his gaze back to the window, turned once again to face her. "Not on everyone." Not knowing what he'd meant by that, she took a sip of her coffee, saving her from the expectation of saying anything in response. She prayed she wasn't blushing. "So how are you not going to get in trouble if you never wear the uniform?" She asked, putting her drink down, and Nico shrugged. "I don't really care if I get in trouble, I won't be here that long anyways." Sasha raised an eyebrow. "Why not?" Nico's eyes, gazing curiously at the stairway Andrea had 'exited' from, widened. "Uh...Because. My…. dad's job gets transferred a lot, so I usually don't stay in one place for more than a couple months." He said. "Oh. That must suck." Sasha said, and Nico shrugged. "Yeah, so, uh...why is your friend hiding behind that fern over there?" Sasha turned to gaze in Nico's direction and spotted Andrea, crouching behind the plant. At first she hadn't noticed her, but now that she knew she was there, it was easy to spot her. She laughed and turned back to Nico, shrugging. "So, can I ask you something?" She asked him, and Nico nodded. "How did you enter the bistro if we didn't even see you walk up to the door?" She questioned, sincerely curious to hear his answer. He shrugged, keeping his eyes locked on the window, where outside, Sasha could see, it had begun to drizzle slightly. "Looks can be deceiving. Are you sure you didn't see me?" He asked, and his tone immediately put her in a dazed mood, and she felt like she was drifting slowly in the air. Sasha blinked, confused for a moment, and something made her remember that no, she _had_ seen Nico. Or had she? Suddenly she was extremely confused. Raising an eyebrow, she shook her head. "No, I'm sure I didn't see you." Nico turned to her, a look of grudging respect on his face. "Most people believe everything I say." He commented, and Sasha shrugged. "They must be pretty stupid then." He smirked and stood up, leaving a $20 bill on the table. "You think this'll cover what you and your friend ate?" He asked, and Sasha shook her head, handing him back his money. "We've got it. Thanks." He stared at her and raised an eyebrow, then shook his head, put the money back on the table, and made his way to the stairs. He waved to Andrea, crouching behind the fern, as he left, and then he was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Sasha's dreams just kept getting worse and worse.

She was at a beach, walking along the shore. The skies were a clear blue, not one single cloud in sight. The sea was unusually calm, the waves silently lapping against the shore. The sand was clean, unlike the beaches in New York ever were, and it squished and compacted with each step Sasha took. Looking over the horizon, the ocean stretched out for miles. Sasha sat, her toes digging into the sand. The waves splashed against her lightly, cooling her from the summer heat. She remembered this—this had been over the past summer when her family had taken the trip to Greece. She recognized the scent of the Mediterranean Sea immediately-it smelled like salt, as opposed to garbage like the ocean's in New York seemed to smell. "Beautiful, isn't it?" A voice behind her asked. She turned to see a boy, and was startled by how familiar he struck her as. She knew she'd never met him before, but she couldn't help but wonder where she'd seen him. She knew she'd seen him _somewhere_. He had black hair, like Nico's, but his, for some reason, didn't make him look emo. He had starling green eyes that shined when he looked at the ocean. Sasha nodded, averting her gaze back to the horizon. The boy took a seat next to her. "Just watch." He said. Slowly, the scene changed. The ocean darkened to a hideous black, and Sasha jumped up, the water splashing against her feet stinging her skin like acid. The sand was no longer clean, now it was all mucky and repulsing, and shards of shattered glass that were mixed in with it stabbed into her feet, leaving ugly cuts. The sky was a sinister purple, and there were several ominous gray clouds dotting the sky. Lighting lit the sky in a lightshow of several shades of purple, and thunder boomed in Sasha's ears. She backed away slowly, praying to wake up. The boy got up and walked with her, his eyes sad. "They're fighting again, Zeus and Poseidon." He said, and Sasha turned to him, incredulous. "Wha-What?! Are you talking about GREEK MYTHOLOGY?!" She screeched, sure this kid was out of his mind, but he just nodded his head, staring out over the horizon. "Y-You're crazy!" She yelled over the wind, but she didn't know if he had even heard her or not over the storm. He turned to her and yelled something she couldn't understand before disappearing from the dream.

Sasha sat up in her bed, breathing heavily. It was still dark outside, and when she turned to check her phone, she read—after being momentarily blinded by the bright screen—that it was barely 2:30. She fell back into her bed, feeling utterly drained. For the next half hour she tossed and turned in bed, in a desperate attempt to fall back to sleep, but eventually gave up and dragged herself out of bed and into the kitchen. She was, for some reason, incredibly hungry. Yawning, she sleepily poured herself a bowl of cereal and took a seat at the kitchen table, hardly even strong enough to lift the spoon to her mouth. She hardly remembered falling back asleep, but the next time she awoke her head was rested in her arms and she was leaning on the kitchen table. She could see, through the puny gap between her scrunched eyelids, that someone had turned on the lights. She heard Ryan laugh, but it sounded like he was on the other side of a wall of water. His words slurred and jumbled, and whatever he teased her about she didn't hear. Her stomach churned, like someone was repeatedly punching her in the gut. Sick, she straightened up and made a beeline for the sink, shoving Ryan out of her way in the process. He stumbled, and stared at her, confused. Sasha barely made it to the sink before she began to hurl. It was horrible, like someone was stabbing her in the back while she vomited. "Oh, Sasha, ew! God, all I wanted was a freaking apple and I get the image of you vomiting into the sink?!" Ryan complained, but Sasha could hear worry in his voice. He was trying to mask it, but it was there. Her brother sighed. "I'll go get mom." He said, exiting the kitchen. Sasha washed her mouth out at stumbled back to the table, placing her elbows on its cold metal surface and resting her head in her hands. She closed her eyes, and slowly the nauseated feeling subsided. Her mom came in eventually and began asking her questions. "Are you okay?" "What happened?" "What did you eat last night?" "How were you feeling before you went to bed?" "Was it something you ate?" "Do you feel better now?" Sasha, unable to use her voice, answered her mom's questions with a series of nods, shrugs, and shakes of her head. Her mom decided that Sasha should stay home from school, and helped Sasha back to her bedroom. Feverish, Sasha kicked away her blanket her mom laid out over her and shut her eyes, taking deep, steady breaths. She was aware of when her mother and Ryan left to go to school and work, and soon after she had fallen back asleep. No more nightmares haunted her, but there was an eerie feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her phone buzzed on her nightstand, and she picked it up. "Hello?" She greeted, her voice hoarse. "Sasha! Where are you?!" Andrea. Sasha sighed, sitting up. "Sick at home." She said. "Ouch. You any better than you were before?" She asked, and Sasha shook her head before realizing that it was a phone call; Andrea couldn't see her. "No, I still feel like shit." She mumbled into the phone. "I'm sorry. Hey listen, get better soon, alright? I'll call you again later. Also, Nico's here, he wanted to talk to you." "Uhm, Andrea, I'm not really in the mood to-" She was cut off by a male's voice. "Hello?" Nico asked nervously, his tone sounding anxious, and Sasha exhaled, thoroughly annoyed with her best friend. "Hey Nico," She said, allowing her voice to ooze with the annoyance she felt, not bothering to try and be nice. She heard Nico exhale with relief on the other end. "Oh Gods, you're okay?" He asked, an urgent note in his voice. Sasha raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Nico, It's just a fever," She said, "it won't kill me or anything." When Nico responded, his voice dripped with sarcasm. "Haha, very funny. I'm an idiot." Sasha laughed, despite how awful she felt. "Alright, well, later." He said. "Uh, well-" Sasha began, but the line had gone dead.

The rest of the day Sasha spent in bed. Although she never vomited after the morning, she still felt queasy. It was only after Ryan had arrived home from school that she began to feel slightly better, and that was mostly because Andrea had sent him with 1/2 a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream for Sasha, with a note on the lid of the lid reading _'get well soon or I'll kill you! Xo, Andreaa'_ Giggling, she had popped open the lid and grabbed a spoon, devouring the frozen treat. She finished it quickly, realizing it was the first thing she'd eaten all day. Ryan handed her some school books and some of her notebooks. He smiled at her. "Here's your homework." He said smirking before heading upstairs to his room, locking the door behind him. Rolling her eyes, Sasha set the books on the table and moaned. If there was anything Sasha really hated, it was homework. What, was seven hours of school a day not enough? She called Andrea, making plans to meet her at Dylan's Candy bar on 5th Avenue in 20 minutes.

They met up and Andrea hugged Sasha, informing her of how the day at school went. "So what was up with Nico? I mentioned to Mikeal that I was calling you and he must have overheard because he asked for your number. I told him no, but he could talk to you when I called you. What's up with you two?" Andrea asked, nudging Sasha, who rolled her eyes. "Nothing. I don't really understand him—he's so weird." She commented, grabbing one of the little plastic pouches they had available all over the shop and tossing some gummy worms and candy corn in it, along with some gum balls and sour strips. Andrea loaded hers with Jelly beans and skittles, and they paid, walking down the street to a Baskin Robbins only a few stores down. They ordered a banana split and took it into a booth, dumping their candy on the ice cream and digging in together. "He seems to like you," Andrea noted, finally, taking a bite of chocolate ice cream with some mini marshmallows. Sasha shook her head. "He seems odd, and I really wish you'd stop leaving me alone with him every time he shows up." She said, allowing Andrea to catch the annoyance in her voice. "Sorry. I really thought you liked him. If you don't, I'll back off." She said, and Sasha nodded, taking a bite of the vanilla ice-cream, catching some gummy worms along with it. "So what's up with you and Mikeal? You never talk about him anymore." Andrea shrugged. "Mikeal's...Mikeal." She said finally, and Sasha raised an eyebrow. "I thought you liked...Mikeal." She responded, imitating her friend's tone, but Andrea shook her head. "I dunno. It's like...different, I guess." She stated, and Sasha nodded. "You'll work it out, whatever it is." "Yeah, I guess." Someone walked into the ice cream shop, and when Sasha caught a glimpse of the boy all in black, she moaned. "_EVERY-WHERE_ I GO." She muttered, catching her head in her hands. Andrea caught sight of what Sasha was annoyed by and her eyes widened. "Do you think he's stalking you?" She whispered, glaring over Sasha's shoulder, where Sasha knew Nico was looking over at them. Sasha shook her head. "I don't know!" She whispered back, aggravated. Andrea's eyes narrowed. "He's coming this way," she warned in a hushed tone, "be cool." Sasha smirked. "Girl, I am _SO_ cool." she told her friend, and Andrea smiled, and Nico came into Sasha's vision. But he walked right past them, taking a table off in the back of the restaurant. Andrea raised an eyebrow at Sasha but said nothing, and Sasha shrugged. "Okay, well, that answers that." she said, and Andrea shook her head, carefully refraining from turning her neck to look at Nico. "He's so stalking you. Let's get out of here." She said in a hushed tone, and Sasha nodded, the two girls standing up. Sasha watched as a blonde girl walked in. She was wearing a tight-fitted strapless hot pink top and super short jean shorts. Like, Sasha didn't even know they MADE shorts that short. She was wearing hot pink wedge-heels that were maybe 4 inches tall at the least, and she turned to Sasha and smiled, waving. Sasha knew she'd never seen this girl before and was sure she wasn't waving at her. Puzzled, she turned to look behind her and saw Nico had stood up and was smiling at the girl, motioning for her to go over to him. Sasha suddenly felt an odd ping of loathe. She walked out the door along with Andrea and through the windowed walls of the shop was just in time to catch a glimpse of Nico and the girl kissing. Disgusted, she turned away, walking down along 5th with Andrea.

Nico stopped talking to her. In fact, he didn't even bother looking her way. It was as if she'd never existed, and Sasha's hate for him just grew more and more with each passing day. It didn't help that suddenly Ryan and him had become best friends and now the guy was coming home with them almost every day. Sasha figured she should've been happy about this—she was the one who'd wanted him to leave her alone, right? But then why was she so pissed? Apparently Ryan and Nico were together in a special English class since they were both dyslexic—yes, her brother had been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia when he was five, and at the same time Sasha had been diagnosed with ADHD, too, and that was why Sasha hated talking about disorders to anyone—Nico and Ryan had become great friends. Much to the disadvantage of Sasha, of course. Mostly in the afternoons she had begun to spend her time sulking in her bedroom, unhappily doing her homework, or going home with Andrea to avoid her own home. One Friday Andrea had been busy, doing something with Mikeal, so Sasha had gone home with Nico and Ryan. She found it annoying that he had practically moved into their house yet didn't have the courtesy to give her one freaking 'hello' every once in a while, but she had let it go. When they'd gotten home, Sasha had been about to do what she usually did: march directly up to her room and lock herself in, avoiding the boys. But as she made her way for the stairs, a hand grabbed her wrist. She turned back, confused, to see Nico grabbing her arm. He looked at her, his eyes so much like death itself boring into hers, and she saw a tense nervousness in them. "We're going to this movie premiere, wanna go?" Sasha raised an eyebrow. Three weeks not talking to her and suddenly he was the same old him. She took her wrist away and shook her head. "No, _thanks._" She said, her tone as cold as ice. How dare he!? She turned around again to head to her room, but Nico grabbed her wrist again, and once again she saw the anxiety in his eyes. "Look, today...it's not really safe for you to be here alone, alright? Just...please?" Sasha raised an eyebrow, several questions swimming around in her mind, but instead of voicing all of them, chose one. She sighed, rolling her eyes and pulling her wrist away, all the while glaring at him. "What movie?" She asked, and Nico smiled, heading outside. She followed him out to the car, where Ryan was waiting. When Ryan saw Sasha, he raised an eyebrow. "Dude?" He asked Nico quizzically. Sasha hopped into the passenger seat and the boys climbed into the back. "So you never answered me, what movie?" She asked. "We're watching 007." Nico said, and Sasha turned back to face Ryan, glaring. "You're an ass. You knew how much I wanted to see that movie and you didn't want me to come?" She asked, and her brother shrugged. She laughed, turning back to face the front. "Screw you." She said, and when he kicked the back of her chair, she laughed again. Nico seemed to hardly be paying attention. He kept looking out the window, like he was anticipating something bad. Sasha, confused, continued to watch him but didn't say anything. They got to the theatre and got out, walking into the building. Inside, the cool air from the AC and the scent of popcorn hit Sasha along with a load of memories. So many times, Sasha and Andrea had come here together to watch movies or just play the cheesy arcade games they kept on the other side of the lobby. They went directly to theatre 6 after buying caramel popcorns and root beers. When Nico handed the tickets to the ticket collector, he raised an eyebrow at Nico quizzically. "Demigods, right? Well, you know the rules-" The man was cut off by Nico slamming something that looked oddly like gold coins into his hand. The ticket collector smiled and let the trio through. "Nico, what was that guy saying back there?" Sasha asked, and Nico shrugged, obviously knowing more than he was letting on. "Who knows?" He said, his tone dismissing the topic.

Halfway through the movie things started to go wrong.

They were right at the part were Naz Hussein and James were talking some strategy or something (Sasha really wasn't paying that much attention, she kept glancing over at the ticket collector, who was standing by the exit and kept glaring at them) when the fire alarm sounded. The emergency lights went on, flashing red as sirens wailed. Nico jumped up, grabbing Sasha's and Ryan's arms and hauling them up along with him, his nails digging into Sasha's skin. "Get up, _get up!_" He snapped, yanking them into a standing position. "Nico? What-?" Sasha let her sentence trail off when she saw Nico's hand, now clutched tightly around a solid black dagger. "Nico! What the _hell are you doing_!?" She screetched, her eyes wide. "Duck," He hissed, and when neither Sasha nor Ryan obliged, shoved them down under the seats. "DUCK!" He commanded, running out into the chaos of the hectic mob of movie-goers. Slightly peeking up over the seats, all Sasha could see was a maelstrom of popcorn and running, screaming people. _'Idiots!'_ She thought. _ 'Why not get out of here?'_ Then she saw why. The ticket collector she had seen guarding the exit was _still_ there, but now his skin was covered in scales. Sasha's jaw dropped and she turned to scramble back under the chairs when something grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and jerked, hard. She was lifted up into the air, kicking her legs and clutching at her collar, desperate to get some air into her lungs. Just then, a face came into her view. It was the face of an elderly woman, wrinkled with age. The eyes shone a fiery red, and Sasha's heart nearly stopped. Her stopped kicking her legs, stopped moving, paralyzed with fear. Through the red eyes, she saw all her worst fears being played right before her eyes. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. "That's right, child. Did you truly think you'd survive _me?_" The hag asked, sneering. It was Ms. Meyers. Her skin was now changing—from a pale, elderly, withered peach, to a groggy grey. She bared her teeth, which grew to fangs right before Sasha's eyes. Sputtering for air, black spots began to dance into Sasha's vision. She was being suffocated—only this time, it wasn't a horrible nightmare she could wake up from. Just as she was sure she was about to pass out, the monster gasped, doubling over, releasing her grip on Sasha's neck. Sasha fell to the ground, gasping. She turned to see a black metal tip protruding out of Ms. Meyer's gut. Her teacher turned to glare at her, hissing. "Daughter of the sea god, this isn't over….." She said, before vanishing into a pile of ash. Nico stood, towering the remains of the monster, gleaming with sweat, his expression grim. He bent over to retrieve his sword, and his face morphed into a sour expression as he examined his blade. "Dammit Alecto," He said, grabbing the hem of his shirt and using it to clean off his sword, "Dad's so grounding me now." He barely then seemed to notice her, and his eyes widened. "Shit," he said, beding down to help her up, "are you alright?" Sasha nodded, her eyes stinging. He sighed. "Gods above, Sasha, didn't I tell you to-" He was cut off by a scream, one all too familiar to Sasha. She recognized it immediately from all the countless times her brother had awoken in the room across from hers, horrified by the nightmares that haunted them both. Her face paled as the blood drained from her face. **_"RYAN!"_**

~~~~  
A.N.: Woohoo! CHB in the next chapter! xD


	4. Chapter 4

Sasha ran to the sound of her brother's voice, Nico following behind her, a blur of black. She heard Nico shouting something, and she was vaguely aware of the screams emitting from everyone in the theatre, but the majority of her focus was on finding Ryan. Abruptly, hands shoved against her back, sending her tumbling to the ground. Her head hit one of the plastic cup holders, and she felt a numbing pain on the right side of her head. Gingerly lifting up two fingers to stroke it lightly, she winced; it was definitely going to leave an _ugly _bruise. Nico was standing above her, a deadly look on his face. His sword was aimed straight ahead, and in the laid down position she was currently in, she saw that the tip was inches away from a vampire's throat. Well, she thought it was a vampire at first. As she looked down, she realized that one of her legs was that of a...was it a donkey? And the other a metal artificial leg. She bared her fangs, and Sasha's eyes widened. The woman seemed to shift and change form right before Sasha's eyes—one moment she had luscious jet black hair, falling down to her mid-back in gorgeous waves, and the next her head was aflame with tongues of blue-black fire. Her eyes morphed, too. One moment a sparkling blue, the next red-orange, as if her irises were alive with fire inside them. The woman pierced Ryan's skin between his shoulder and his neck with her fangs, and Ryan gasped, his eyes widening. Blood poured from the cut, and the monster licked it up generously, all the while keeping her gaze locked with Nico's and smiling viciously. Something was wrong with Nico, because he stared, eyes blank, back at the she-demon. Ryan seemed to be losing blood quickly, because soon his face was completely drained, his eyes rolled back into his head. Something snapped in Sasha, she wasn't sure if it was fury, or shock, or maybe just the fact that she didn't even fully believe any of any of this was _actually_ happening, but she grabbed Nico's sword from out of his hand and lunged.

Sasha could tell you that she was just a badass swordfighter even though she'd never been trained once in her life, but, in truth, the only reason she even survived her attack on the monster was because she caught it off guard. The monster hadn't really seen her as a threat, and that was why Sasha was able to swing at it. The blade made a clean cut across the demons shoulder, and she howled in pain. Before Sasha could even blink, even process what was going on, the demon was on top of her, pinning her to the theatre's carpeted floor. Heart pounding, Sasha fought to release the monster's grasp, but it was too string for her. The demon bared her fangs…and shrieked as she turned to golden powder, scattering all over Sasha. Spitting out monster dust, Sasha sat up, and then winced in pain, her hands flying to her torso. When she removed them, they came back bloody. Light headed and nauseated, she turned away. The sight of blood had always made her feel sick, even her own. Nico held out a hand to her, which she gratefully took, standing up. She suddenly remembered Ryan, and her head buzzed. "Where's-" She began, but Nico cut her off. "He's all right, just knocked out. But we need to get him to camp fast, or that empousai poison will spread." Too drained to ask any questions, Sasha simply nodded. Her knees buckled, and she would have fallen to the ground had Nico not been so fast. He latched his arm around her back, his fingers barely brushing her cut, but Sasha gasped in pain. Confused, Nico sat her down in one of the theatre's seats. He pulled up her shirt, and at first Sasha shoved him away so hard he toppled backwards. He stood up, glaring at her. "I need to check your _wound_, stupid." He said, and Sasha blushed. _'DUH! Stupid!'_ She mentally scolded herself as Nico began to lift up her shirt again. He didn't lift it up too high, just enough that he could inspect the wound. Sasha kept her head aimed up at the ceiling, sure that if she saw the injury she'd become sick. Nico inhaled a sharp breath and moved away from her, over to where Ryan lay, unconscious, on the ground. "Well?" Sasha asked, her voice hoarse. Nico's face was grim, and she suddenly realized she didn't want to know the answer. "We need to get you two to camp. Fast." He swung one arm under Ryan and pulled him up, and grabbed Sasha's hand with the other. "Do you like rollercoasters?" He asked her, and Sasha stared at him incredulously. How could he _seriously _think of going to an amusement park right now? "Are you out of your mi-" She was silenced by the darkness, engulfing her like a curtain at the end of a play.

It seemed like a mere matter of minutes before the darkness evaporated. Now Sasha gazed over a hill at the ocean. Well, there were other things along with the ocean, but the sparkling blue was the first thing that caught her attention. Moving her gaze away from it, she could see strawberry fields, a large blue house, a forest, an amphitheater, a forge, and was that….a volcano? She also saw a cluster of what looked like cabins, and a horse stable. Suddenly there was pain in her side, a fiery, agonizing pain. She turned to look at it and saw Nico rubbing some odd type of golden liquid into her wound with a white cloth. Well, it must have originally been white; now it was stained with her blood. Shocks of pain ran through her side and she fell, gasping. The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was the pale sky, not a single cloud to be seen.  
_Sasha gasped, snapping her eyes open and sitting up abruptly. With difficulty, she stood. She was in a field of green. Off to her right she saw a cluster of small villas, ranging from all ages in time. One was an ancient Roman villa, another was a modern family home. Off to her left, there was water, sparkling, clean water. "Where am I?" She wondered aloud. "This? These are the Isles of the Blest." Said a voice behind her. She jumped, turning to face the speaker. Nico. She raised an eyebrow. "What happened?" She asked, struggling to remember how she got here. Nico regarded her sadly. "Sasha, this is the Underworld." Sasha raised an eyebrow. "Why am I here?" "Sasha, you're dead."  
_ Cold water trickled down her face, tickling her nose. Scrunching her face up, she begrudgingly opened her eyes. She was in what looked like a hospital. It definitely _smelled _like a hospital—sanitized, and reeking of medicine and blood and sickness. It was also oddly cold like hospitals usually were, despite the heat outside. She struggled to sit up, pain shooting up her veins. She gasped, clutching her side and letting her head fall back onto the pillow. Somewhere off to her right, someone chuckled. "Try not to move too much, trust me. Whatever they did to us, it _kills_." Sasha turned to face her brother, lying in the cot next to hers. He was holding a glass of water, and he must have splashed her, causing her to wake up. "Ryan," she breathed. "Are you-" "Okay? Yeah, I'm fine." He said, his tone relaxed. "So, do you have any idea what happened to me?" Sasha asked, truly curious. Everything after the black-void-travel was fuzzy. "Truthfully? Sheesh, I don't know. I'm told I passed out long before you did, but everyone keeps saying 'poison' and 'lethal' and 'dying', so I'm guessing you've just been resurrected or something." He joked at the end, trying to lighten the mood about what he'd just told his sister, but it didn't really work. "So they think I'm dying?" She asked, and he turned so he wasn't looking at her. "Your heart stopped. It wasn't beating for a whole five minutes. Then this girl walked in and you were electrocuted. Like, you were actually _struck by lightning_. Then your pulse came back." He said, and Sasha took a deep breath. She had been dead, or at least pretty close. Just then they heard the door open and Nico walked in. He smiled when he saw Sasha and went to sit next to her. "You're finally up." He said, bags under his eyes. "Took you long enough." Sasha smirked. "Well, considering that I was proclaimed 'dead', I guess it's better late than never, right?" She asked. "Not necessarily." Ryan muttered, and Sasha rolled her eyes. "Shut up." She told him, still looking at Nico. He'd winced when Sasha'd mentioned herself being dead, but other than that showed no emotion. His mouth was a thin line. "Apollo's cabin has been treating you. Thalia, the daughter of Zeus, came in and started your heart a week ago." He informed her, and Sasha raised an eyebrow. "Aren't those-" "Greek Gods?" He cut her off, sighing. "Yeah, they are. Welcome to Camp Half Blood."  
Sasha glared at Nico once he'd finished with his explanation. "So, let me make sure I've got all this. You're the son of Hades, God of the Underworld, and you knew Ryan and I were demigods, so you were _scouted _to watch over us. Those….._things_ at the movies were some type of Greek monster-" "Empousai" He corrected her, and she glared daggers at him. He cleared his throat. "Sorry, continue" He said, and Ryan snickered. "So the **_EMPOUSAI_**," She said, exaggerating the word, "were after us and wanted us dead because we are demigods. On top of that, there was also a fury, one of the servants of Hades. May I ask you why the hell your dad wanted to kill me?" She asked, her tone icy, and Nico shrugged. "I _don't know._ I told you that already." He said, and Sasha sighed. "So then after we were injured you 'shadow travelled' us over here, where I promptly passed out." She said, and Nico nodded. "There was underworld poison in your system. Alecto must have stabbed you, because Ryan was poisoned differently. He'd been infected with empousai poison, which will, once it takes effect, turn you into one of the monsters, while underworld poison just kills you off, slowly and painfully. When we got here, I began to recognize it, so I tried treating it. That stuff I was using? Nectar, the drink of the gods. For demigods it can be used as a type of life-saving medicine. It helped, but if the Apollo kids hadn't gotten to you when they did, you'd most probably be dead right now." Sasha gulped. "I had a nightmare, that I was dead. I was in the Isles of the Blest. You were there too." Nico's eyes turned distant, and he didn't respond. Instead, he shook his head and left the room, without a glance back at either Ryan or Sasha. "Well," Ryan began, breaking the silence, "this ought to be interesting."


	5. Chapter 5

Ryan was let out the day after Sasha woke up. As soon as they'd allowed him, he'd jumped out of bed and dashed for the exit, shooting one last glance at Sasha. "Peace, Loser!" He gloated, rushing out of the room, one of the healer's chasing after him. Although he'd acted like he'd ditched her, he still visited her every day for about an hour, bringing her lunch and telling her about camp. He said that Chiron, the ancient centaur from all the myths, ran the camp alongside Mr. D (aka Dionysus). He said that they'd told him that since they were twins, they both had the same godly parent. They just had to figure out who that was. They'd already narrowed it down to a male, since their mother was mortal. He boasted about being amazing at everything he did, but whenever Ryan wasn't around, the healer's from Apollo's cabin informed her he actually stunk at everything he tried.  
"No offence, but your brother can't even throw a basketball right, let alone wield a sword. Oh, and you do not want to be near him when he's practicing archery. Trust me." Jonathan, a curly, light brown haired, blue-brown eyed son of Apollo around her age informed her as he changed her bandages around the wound.  
"If I ever even get out of here." She muttered. He smiled.  
"Hey, I'm not supposed to tell you this, so act like you don't know, but you don't have that much longer in here." He said, and Sasha smiled.  
"Thanks. For telling me." She said, and he shrugged.  
"To be honest, I think you're both children of Apollo. I mean, granted, you're brother _really does suck_ at archery, which is extremely uncommon for a son of Apollo, but you seem to fit all the qualifications. Except, you know, your eyes. Children of Apollo never have your color eyes."  
"Uhm…thanks?" She said, not sure what else to say.  
He stood up, done casting her up. A conch sounded in the distance, and Sasha recognized its meaning—dinner time. "Well, that's my cue." He said, and Sasha nodded.  
"See you." He called behind him as he walked out of the infirmary. Sasha sighed, glaring at her waist and slumping back in her cot. Not for the first time, she despised getting gashed by the monster and longed to be let out of the bed. While allowing her mind to gnaw on all these bitter thoughts, someone walked in. He was carrying a plate of food.  
"Hey," He greeted her, setting the tray down on the side table next to her bed.  
"Hi," She muttered, reaching for the water bottle and struggling to twist open the lid. With much difficulty, the plastic top finally popped off, dousing her in water.  
"Dammit!" She muttered, grabbing for the napkin and beginning to dab at her clothes to get the water out. Turning to face the boy, she saw him smirking, biting his lower lip in an attempt to keep from laughing. When Sasha rolled her eyes, he didn't bother—he burst out laughing.  
"It's not _funny_" She hissed, and although she was trying to be serious, she doubted it worked, considering she began to giggle herself.  
"I'm Percy." He said, smiling. He had green eyes that regarded Sasha lazily and black hair. With a jolt, Sasha recognized him.  
"I've seen you before." She said, and he cocked his head to the side.  
"I've never seen you before." He said, puzzled. Sasha decided that wherever she'd seen him before, it wasn't that important. She smiled.  
"Sasha" She said. He nodded. "Nice to meet you. So you guys were attacked by empousai, Nico said?" He asked, and Sasha shrugged.  
"That's what he told me they were called."  
"He said they managed to put him under their trance while killing your brother and you grabbed his sword and took her head-on." He said, a note of respect in his tone.  
"Thanks, but I think you should know that as soon as the blade barely cut the thing, it had me on the ground. It would've killed me in an instant if not for Nico." She argued, and Percy smiled, pulling up a chair.  
"Yeah, but _he's _had training. Plus, he's a pretty powerful demigod. He shouldn't be distracted by monster's tricks so easily. _You_, one the other hand, you've _never been trained._ And you actually saved your brother, when that was his job."  
Sasha raised an eyebrow. "How was that his job?"  
He stared at her. "You didn't know? He was scouted out to you guys to watch over you and bring you safely to camp, and he didn't do a good job, considering he nearly had all three of you killed on the spot."  
Sasha looked at him uncomprehendingly. "So…he was acting like our friend just to finish a job?"  
Percy began to say something, and then cut himself off, as if deciding it was a bad idea as an afterthought. "Well…I mean, if you get right down to it, that's how it started out. But maybe along the line he actually did become your friend. Like, take the guy who recruited me, for example. It started off as just an assignment, but now we're like best friends, so it depends." He said, and Sasha nodded, masking her irritation.  
"Oh."  
"So, how much longer 'till they let you out of here?"  
"I'm not sure, but apparently not much. I think they're anxious to get a hint at who my dad is, since they're not having much luck with my brother." Sasha laughed lightly.  
"Oh yeah. Listen, don't go anywhere near him when he's got a bow and arrow in hand, alright? Just some friendly advice." He warned, and Sasha smiled.  
"So who sired you?" Sasha asked.  
"Poseidon." He said simply, and Sasha nodded.  
"You must have some pretty cool gifts then, huh?"  
"It's not as fun as it sounds." He said.  
"Well, even so, it's pretty cool."  
He made no comment at that, instead stood up, repositioning the chair to where it had previously been sitting.  
"I should get going, we're playing capture the flag today, and my girlfriend'll kill me if I'm not there to hear, and support, her strategy."  
"Daughter of Athena?"  
He flashed her a grin. "Yupp."

Two more days and Sasha was let out of the infirmary. Percy had been there, and Jonathan, even Ryan too, but Nico hadn't shown up. In fact, Sasha hadn't seen him since Ryan was let out, and the thought annoyed her. She'd met Annabeth, Percy's girlfriend, a daughter of Athena with blonde, curling hair and shining grey eyes. Annabeth was pretty nice, but she was a complete perfectionist. Everything had to be _perfect_ with her, Sasha realized, even though she hadn't spent more than around ten minutes with the girl. After Jonathan and Ryan showed her around, the three of them made their way to the horse stables. Upon arrival, Sasha realized that they were _not_, in fact, horses. They looked like horses, except on each of their sides, each creature sprouted wings. Sasha stifled a gasp. They were the most beautiful animals she had ever seen. Ryan rolled his eyes. "_Pegasus?_ Really? What's next, Barbie's gonna pop out of the woods with some unicorns and faeries?" He said, and Jonathan shot him a look of distaste.  
"I don't remember anyone asking _you _along," he spat, and Sasha had to fight to keep the corners up her lips from turning up into a smile. Ryan glared at the son of Apollo before raising an eyebrow at his lip-twitching sister and stalking off toward the sword-fighting arena. Sasha shrugged and made her way to a dark grey Pegasi with blue eyes. It neighed as she approached, and Jonathan laughed. "Everyone who's tried to ride that one has gotten themselves stuck in the infirmary for weeks, and considering that it hasn't even been a full hour since you've been released yet, I suggest you stay away from her." He advised, and Sasha cringed, but made no intention of moving away from the horse. Instead, she stuck her hand out slowly, petting the Pegasus's muzzle. "Its name?" She asked him, and the boy sighed.  
"You're just a stubborn little pain, aren't you?" He asked, and when she didn't respond, he sighed.  
"His name is Hurricane, and I suggest you don't—what the _**Tartarus**__ are you __**doing**_!?" He hissed, rushing forward to pull Sasha down from Hurricane's back, where she'd hopped on and grabbed hold of his mane.  
"Oh please," She said, rolling her eyes. "I've gone to summer camps with horseback riding classes for years. What's the difference?"  
Jonathan made an overly-dramatic show of tapping a finger against his chin as if deep in thought. "Hmm, I dunno. MAYBE it's the fact that Hurricane is an untamed, free-spirited _winged horse_ that doesn't, actually, use the ground as boundaries!" He exclaimed sarcastically, and Sasha smiled.  
"All the more exciting." She said, grinning as she began to steer Hurricane out of his stable.  
"You're going to get yourself killed." Jonathan muttered, sliding onto another Pegasus's back and following behind her. Sasha didn't care it pay any care to whatever he said after that, she took to the wind. Hurricane bucked and whinnied in protest, but Sasha held steady, tightening her grip on the Pegasus's mane. Biting down on her tongue, she was jerked and bobbed around on the winged horse's back until, with an indignant neigh, the horse reared, 20 feet in the air, and sent Sasha sliding down his back, free-falling toward the ground. The wind rushing in her ears and the sudden pressure making her ears pop, Sasha shut her eyes and screamed.


	6. Chapter 6

"_Gods, _Sash, I _warned you you'd fall_!" Jonathan told her for what seemed the hundredth time. Of course, Sasha owed him her life, so she figured she'd just let him rant until he was done, but she was seriously growing agitated. "I _know, _and I already said sorry, and I already said thanks, and I already said I _won't do it again_." She said, exasperated, and Jonathan sighed. "You know I'm pretty sure you broke your arm when it smashed into Daisy's back," He warned her, and Sasha cringed. When Jonathan had seen Sasha falling, he'd shot down to catch him on Daisy, his Pegasus, so she wouldn't smash against the ground like a pancake. Unfortunately, she'd landed on the horse's spine and her arm had shattered like glass. Even the smallest of movement sent a searing pain up her veins, and she bit down on her lip. "Guess it serves you right though." Jonathan said, beginning to wrap a bandage around her arm. Sasha rolled her eyes and winced as he finished with the bandages and moved on to the cast. "So how long do I leave this on?" She asked, already dreading the next few months. "Around a week or two. See, we've been working on this thing where we dip the bandages in nectar to heal the wound faster." He said, and Sasha raised an eyebrow, shocked, but said nothing. "There," Jonathan said, stepping back to admire his work, "Damn, I'm good."

Sasha assumed demigods didn't usually break their bones, because everyone kept shooting her odd looks. Unaffected, Jonathan led Sasha over to the archery range. This wasn't the first time Sasha'd used a bow and arrow, but the cast was a pain. In fact, after several attempts, they decided archery was out of the question until Sasha's cast was removed. Obviously annoyed, Jonathan took her to the sparring range. Since her right arm was broken and Sasha was left-handed, Jonathan figured they'd give it a shot. He handed her a basic sword, telling her to test it out. "You have to feel comfortable with your weapon, it has to feel so natural it's like an extension of your own arm." He told her. She took it, and her whole arm was weighed down. "Damn that's heavy!" She said, kicking it aside, and Jonathan snickered.  
"I know."  
"Then why did you—ugh forget it."  
Jonathan laughed, picking up the sword and placing it back against the wall, grabbing another.  
"Try this."  
This one was more slender, with edges that curved inward like a rainbow, giving the point a shape similar to a diamond. The pommel of the hilt was shaped like a crescent moon overlapping the sun, the moon gleaming silver and the sun gold, while the blade itself was a bronze identical to the previous weapon.  
"The metal used to forge the weapons is called celestial bronze," Jonathan said, answering her unvoiced question, "demigods use it to kill monsters or other immortal beings. There are other types of metals that work to, but celestial bronze is the most common and most affective."  
"You can kill gods?" Sasha asked, weighing the weapon in her hand.  
"No, but you can banish them to Tartarus for a time. Monsters, too."  
"Oh." She swung the weapon, and Jonathan ducked with a yelp. None too soon, either. Had he been a split second later, Sasha would've sliced his head off clean. She dropped the weapon, her mouth forming an _O_, bending down to kneel beside him.  
"Sorry! Oh Gods, I'm so sorry! I swear I was just testing it out. Oh my Gods, are you okay? Please say you're okay. Jonathan?"  
He laughed, smirked at her, and stood up. He offered her his hand.  
"Sasha, _you didn't even hit me_." He said, smiling.  
She sighed. "Well, this one's too slippery a grip."  
Jonathan beamed. "Awesome. Try this," he said, handing her a different kind of weapon. This one was also a sword, but more imposing. To her eyes, it looked like a bulky, imposing chunk of metal that had been sharpened to a point. She warily took it in her hand, slightly surprised it wasn't so heavy she dropped it like the other. It balanced well in her hand. The hilt was intricately carved with a design like fire, and a dark purple stone was set in the pommel. The cross-guard was curved up, twirling into delicate vines. She regarded the weapon carefully, aware that the blade of this sword was a shining black.  
"This doesn't look like celestial bronze to me," Sasha noted, averting her gaze to the boy.  
"That's 'cause it isn't. Stygian iron is the type of metal children of Hades and the other gods down in the Underworld use mostly. It's like a boost for their talents, it can make them stronger."  
"So you want to see how I react to it to see if my dad's a god of the Underworld, basically?"  
Jonathan shrugged. "In a nutshell."  
She nodded and turned to face one of the practice dummies, and swung. It hit the dummy so that if she'd been battling an actual person, she'd have sliced them in half, from the torso up. As it was, the impact was so powerful it felt like all the bones in Sasha's arm were shattering. Then the broken feeling was gone, replaced with fire. Burning, agonizing fire. She gasped, releasing her grip of the weapon. As soon as it fell from her hand, all pain ceased to a numb throbbing.  
"Well," Jonathan said, "I guess that answers that."

At some point Jonathan and Percy swapped places, so that Percy was trying to help her learn to fight and use a weapon. They'd decided on a basic training sword for now, and Percy was showing her some beginning maneuvers. Annabeth sat aside, her expression slightly amused as Percy attempted to teach her how to parry a block. Eventually, Annabeth decided to come to Sasha's rescue and relieve her of Percy's horrible teaching.  
"Percy, remind me to tell you you'd make a horrible teacher" She told him with a smirk.  
He scowled. "You'd be a perfect teacher. You're cranky, uptight, and everything has to be perfect with you." He muttered.  
"Well that's complimenting yourself, since you_ are _my boyfriend."  
"Hey, you only pick the best."  
"Oh whatever" She mumbled, giggling.  
Turning to face Sasha, her expression grew serious. "Alright, let's start from the very beginning."  
The next couple hours they spent sparring, and all three of them were drenched in sweat by the time they'd finished. Percy and Annabeth walked her over to the Hermes cabin, which was a run-down log cabin packed with crazy kids, and introduced her to Travis and Connor Stoll, Hermes' co-councilors. They stole a camp tee shirt and some shorts from the camp store for her, and she showered and changed before they made their way down to dinner. At the dining pavilion, the Stolls showed her that she needed to scrape some of her meal into the brazier for the Gods. Settled down at the crowded table, Sasha sat next to Ryan, who seemed to have already made friends with everyone. They were all joking and laughing, and Sasha just sat there, awkwardly picking at her plate.  
"Boo," a voice behind her whispered, and she jumped, dropping her fork so it clattered against her plate. Ryan raised an eyebrow and smirked, then turned to say something to the other campers, no doubt something funny at her expense. She turned to looks behind her, and raised her eyebrows when she saw nothing but the dark of the night outside the pavilion. Shaking her head, she turned back to her meal, her cheeks growing hot.  
"Sasha, it's rude to ignore people," the same mocking voice whispered into her ear, and she set her jaw, stood, turned, and lightly punched the speaker in the shoulder.  
"Damn you Nico" She hissed, and he laughed in response.  
"What do you want?" She asked, more venom in her tone than intended. She turned back to the table to see Ryan and the rest of the table watching them and placing bets. Sighing out of exasperation, she marched off towards the woods, Nico following a few paces behind her.  
"You know you didn't have to punch me," he said, breaking the silence. They'd stopped some ways into the woods and all lights from the camp had faded, so that now it was mostly dark. Crickets chirped, filling the air with noise. Nico moved toward her, and she could just make out the outline of his black hair. Suddenly, light burst into her vision, just around Nico's hand. As it turned out, he had a flashlight. She shrugged.  
"It seemed fitting at the time." She said, and he narrowed his eyes.  
"Really? Punching me?"  
"Oh stop being a sissy, I barely touched you."  
He beamed. "I know. So how are you? I heard you were let out, then you show up at dinner with a cast? I don't remember you breaking your arm."  
She averted her gaze so she wasn't looking at him.  
"I fell off a Pegasus."  
"I was told you fell off Hurricane."  
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I fell off Hurricane, even though Jonathan warned me not to ride him. I broke my arm because when he caught me out of mid-air, after Hurricane had knocked me off, on his horse's back I landed on it too hard." She explained, and he nodded.  
"Get well soon." He said simply, no emotion or sincerity in his voice, and Sasha rolled her eyes.  
"Thank you." She muttered, also without any true meaning to the words. She waited for him to say more, but when it was obvious that he wasn't going to, she shoved her hands in her pockets and retraced her steps, making her way, through the dark, back towards the rest of camp.

After dinner Ryan pulled Sasha aside, while all the rest of the camp made their way to the amphitheater for the 'sing-along session of doom', as Percy had put it.  
"Can I help you?" Sasha asked, her irritation dripping in her tone. Her brother was always annoying, and Sasha found it even more annoying whenever he made her a laughing stock in front of a bunch of strangers. Which was very often.  
"Woah, chill it _sis_" He said, spitting out the word like he did whenever he was truly, utterly annoyed with her. She raised an eyebrow.  
"What did I do to you?" She asked, still irritated but also confused.  
"You go off into the woods at night, in the middle of dinner, to _make out with the freak in camp_?"  
She stared at her brother, bewildered. "_**WHAT!?**_" She asked, her mind blown to little pieces and scattered around like dust.  
"Well _duh_! What the hell's _wrong with you_? And _why_, oh dear gods _why,_ do you have to be my sister?"  
Sasha glared at him, rage boiling up inside her. "_For your information, _you _**ass hole**_, we didn't make out. We didn't even _talk_, alright? Second off, there's nothing wrong with me other than the fact that I have _your sorry ass _for a brother. A shitty brother, I might add. Oh, and it isn't all that great to be known as your sister, I figured you should know." She snapped. She whirled to walk away, then, almost instinctively, turned back and slapped him across the cheek before storming off.

The fact that she couldn't avoid her brother forever was the most annoying truth in Sasha's life. In reality, she only had a couple hours until he came back to the Hermes cabin with the rest of the campers. She decided to just completely ignore him. Which she assumed wouldn't be hard, since if she had to guess, she'd say he'd be trying to avoid her too. When the campers began to arrive from the amphitheater, she curled up into a random bed and pretended to be asleep, since with all the noise the kids made it was impossible to actually dose off.  
"Aw man! She passed out in my bed!" One kid whined, and Sasha assumed he was talking about her.  
"Get over it dude," Connor said dismissively, and Sasha heard the other boy sigh.  
"Whatever. As long as her and death-freak don't make out on it, I'm good."  
It took all of Sasha's will power not to get up out of that bed and punch the speaker in the nose so hard she'd break it. _'Calm down, beat the shit out of him tomorrow'_ She told herself. She was so shocked she nearly opened her eyes to make sure her ears weren't deceiving her when she heard Ryan defend her.  
"Shut up Blake, they didn't even make out."  
"Dude you're the one who said they were both into each other."  
"Are you blind? Do you _not see _the red mark on my cheek? She slapped me, you asshole, and when she finds out you're talking shit about her behind her back, I suggest you run for your freaking useless little life."  
Sasha heard some snickers from some of the other campers, and she resisted the urge to smile.  
"Whatever man, you're a freak just like your sister."  
At this, Sasha opened her eyes, ready to beat the punk to a pulp, when she saw Ryan had already punched him in the gut, and was cussing him out so bad Sasha wondered what their mom would do if she'd heard him. Probably wash his mouth out with soap countless times, she assumed. She slowly, gracefully, made her way over to her brother and Blake. When her brother saw her, his voice trailed off and he stood aside for her, obviously curious as to what she was planning. She glared down at the sorry excuse for a demigod on the ground and smiled.  
"You're bed? Mine. You ever even _look _at me again and I'll slap you 'till you're bleeding. You ever say one word about me or my brother again, and I'll make you suffer so badly you'll _wish _you were dead. Understood?"  
Blake nodded hastily and she smiled sweetly, kicking him in the gut before turning around to face the rest of the campers. A lot of them were laughing at Blake and staring at her oddly, as if they didn't know whether to respect her or fear her. Ryan smiled and came up to whisper in her ear.  
"It's so obvious you're bluffing," He said, and she laughed.  
"If they couldn't tell, I'm doing a good job at hiding it." She said, before saying goodnight to him, Travis, and Connor, and falling into her bed, exhausted.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day Sasha and Ryan made their way down to the dining pavilion for breakfast, along with a bunch of the other demigods from cabin 11 that had decided to take Sasha under their wing. Apparently everyone hated Blake, and therefore they'd respected her treatment of him. She loaded her plate with eggs, bacon, and a blueberry muffin, scraping some of her eggs into the brazier for the gods. _Please,_ she prayed, _whoever my dad is, show it._ She sat down with the rest of cabin 11 and they all joked around, placing bets and spreading gossip.  
"10 drachmas says that Drew is going to _explode _when she sees what we did to her breakfast." Connor bet, and Ryan shook his head.  
"No way man, I'm so going to lose if I go against you on that." Ryan snickered.  
"Who's Drew?" Sasha asked, biting into a piece of bacon. Travis pointed to a girl with long black hair over at the Aphrodite cabin. "That's Drew. She's a sadistic drama queen who everyone here at camp hates, but a lot of the kids also fear her."  
"Why?"  
"Her mom's Aphrodite. Some children of Aphrodite have this gift called charmspeak. Their voices are like some toxic poison, they can convince you that whatever they say is right, and you're, like, put under a spell. She's ruined so many people's lives here with that blasted 'gift' of hers." Connor scoffed, stuffing a bite of pancake into his mouth.  
"There's another girl who has the gift too, but she's super cool. She actually hates her gift and tries to use it as least as possible, while Drew exploits it to no end. Drew used to be the head of Aphrodite's cabin because she used her charmspeak to make everyone else make it her. Man, that girl was _cruel _to those poor campers. Then Piper came along and challenged Drew, and she won. So Drew and her are like sworn enemies now." Travis said, and Sasha raised an eyebrow.  
"Really? Like, _I want to rip your throat out _hate? But they're sisters."  
Ryan laughed bitterly. "When you're a demigod, your bloodline doesn't always matter."

Half way into breakfast, Ryan asked Sasha to go get him more toast. Sasha rolled her eyes, but went anyways. She was making her way to the buffet they had set up and began stacking food on her brother's plate when Drew walked up.  
"Hey hun, that's enough carbs for you, don't you think?" She said with mock kindness. Sasha placed the plate on the table and turned to face the girl.  
"Did you just call me fat?"  
Drew batted her eyelashes innocently. "indirectly, yes." She said, smiling. Sasha smiled, making her expression identical to Drew's, and eyed her up and down.  
"Look who's talking." She said, in a voice strikingly similar to the Daughter of Aphrodite's. She turned to look at Drew's plate and made a disgusted face.  
"Oh gods. Please don't tell me you're planning on eating all that, hun, or I might just _die._" Sasha turned her gaze to Drew's shoes.  
"Oh my gods _your shoes_!" She squealed, pointing, a horrified expression on her face.  
"Did you trample through some dung with the rest of your herd? Because those shoes are ugly as sin and you_ reek._"  
Drew's face turned the shade of a plum and she shoved Sasha into the table. Sasha stumbled backwards, knocking over the bacon and fruits. She inhaled, and slowly let her hands close around one of the bowls of jam. She turned to smile at Drew, holding the bowl behind her back. She laughed sarcastically and smiled maniacally. She stepped forward and her eyes narrowed, glaring at me cautiously just in time for me to flip the bowl over her head. Drew screamed as the red-purple jam stuck to her hair in glorified glomps of goo. Sasha laughed, doubling over with laughter.  
"You _stupid undetermined loser!_ What in the name of _Zeus _do you think you're doing!? I'll kill you for this!" She yelped, and Sasha wiped tears of laughter from her eyes, catching her breath and taking her brothers plate. She shrugged, smirking.  
"Whatever." She said, giggling as she made her way back to the gaping Hermes table and handing her brother his food.

Cabin 11's first activity on Wednesdays was weapon crafting, where they went down to the forge to make their own weapons. When they went, there were a couple of Hephaestus kids down there, crafting and creating. Ryan caught a glimpse of one of the children of Hephaestus and smiled and waved, walking over to go talk to him. Connor and Travis were in mid-explanation to the rest of the Hermes campers, so Sasha shrugged and went to join her brother.  
"—that final touchdown? Did you see that?" the boy said, pointing at something on a workbench. Raising an eyebrow, Sasha realized it was a TV.  
"You guys are watching football?" She asked, and Ryan and the boy turned to face her. The boy had Latino features; tanned skin and curly brown hair. He had warm brown eyes that seemed to sparkle and an elfish grin.  
"No, we weren't watching football." Ryan said.  
"Yes we were."  
Ryan laughed. "I know."  
Sasha rolled her eyes. "This is Leo," Ryan introduced the boy to his sister, "He's from Texas, too. Leo, this is my sister, Sasha."  
Leo raised an eyebrow and nodded at Sasha. "Hey." He said, and Sasha smiled.  
"So you're from Texas?" She asked.  
"Yeah. Ryan told me you guys moved to New York just a couple years ago?"  
"Yeah."  
"That's cool. Wanna see what we're working on?" He asked, and Sasha shrugged.  
"I don't see anything better to do….." She joked. Leo showed her the screen they had been looking at, which wasn't, in fact, a TV. Instead, it was a celestial bronze screen projecting the latest football game between the Dallas cowboys and another team Sasha didn't know. The projection gave a real life 3D image, and Sasha reached out to touch the screen. Where her finger touched the image, it rippled like water.  
"What do you want to see? Anything."  
Sasha thought, then her eyes widened and she laughed.  
"Ryan as a baby."  
Ryan stared at her. "What? No, don't let her-!" He exclaimed, but it was too late. With a smirk, Leo typed the description into a keyboard on the desk, and the image of football players morphed and changed until the screen showed Ryan as a baby in the bathtub. His hair was soaked and sudsy and done into a Mohawk. He was laughing and splashing around, and Sasha and Leo burst into laughter as Ryan's cheeks reddened. He snatched the keyboard from Leo and rapidly typed something. The image changed again, this time to Sasha and Ryan at the beach when they were 5. Sasha was splashing around in the water, and Ryan was building a sandcastle. Filling a bucket with water, Sasha walked over to her brother, who had built a small fort out of sand and was playing with soldier figurines. Smiling evilly, Sasha dumped water onto his fort and Ryan began to cry, then he shoved Sasha into the water. She fell backwards, and her face went from gleeful to shock, then she abruptly began to sob. Laughing, Ryan walked off, and Sasha sat there, continuing to cry.  
The 15 year old Ryan turned to look at Sasha, smirking. Sasha just shook her head.  
"You were such a mean kid." She said, teasing her brother. He stared at her in disbelief.  
"You ruined my fort!" He argued.  
"Oh, it was an ugly fort. I was doing you a favor."  
"It wasn't an ugly fort! You were just-"  
"Guys, shut up. Watch." Leo interrupted, still gazing at the screen. Begrudgingly, the twins turned to look at the projection. It was still Sasha and Ryan on the beach, and they were still arguing. But as Sasha paid more attention to what was going on, her eyes grew wide. She and Ryan were splashing each other in the water, yelling and screaming and laughing and crying, but the water. It looked as if it were at war with itself, and each time Sasha splashed Ryan, it seemed that more water was flying towards him than a five year old could manage to control. The force should have knocked Ryan over, but instead it seemed to swirl around him until he shoved his hands forward, motioning for the water to make his sister topple over, but she actually laughed and made it into a giant wave behind her, sending it crashing onto her brother. They continued to fight like that on the screen for several minutes, before Sasha quickly grabbed the keyboard and sent her hands flying across the keys, rapidly typing in what was on her mind. The image changed to her and her brother watching the little mermaid when they were 7. Ryan had just gotten a pet goldfish and had named it Dorothy (like in Elmo), and they were sitting on their mom's bed with popcorn, watching the movie. Ryan was hugging the fishbowl to his chest as they watched the movie.  
"Yes Dorothy, Sebastian is funny." He said to his fish, and Sasha turned to look at him.  
"Are you talking to your fishy?" She asked, her small mouth making the 'sh' sound like 'sth'.  
"Dorothy talked to me," Ryan said, and Sasha smiled, scooting to sit next to her brother and the fish. She took the bowl from her brother and held it up to her head, so that the glass made her eyes look ten times larger if someone looked from the other side. She gasped dramatically like little kids do and laughed, handing the bowl back to Ryan.  
"Your fishy talks!" She exclaimed, eyes wide. For the next couple of minutes Leo, Ryan, and Sasha watched the little children on the screen carry on a conversation with a goldfish. When the image faded, Sasha turned to look at her brother. "I figured all that stuff was just my imagination." She said, and Ryan raised an eyebrow. "You think I didn't?"  
"You guys do realize what those mean, right?" Leo asked them, and suddenly the whole room was filled with a shining teal color. The rest of the campers in the forge turned to look at them, all abruptly stopping what they had been doing to look at them. Connor and Travis walked over to them, the twins staring at Sasha and Ryan in disbelief.  
"You guys, you're the children of Poseidon." Travis said, and Connor shook his head. "I'm gonna go tell Chiron" He said, making his way to the exit. Travis smiled at them, but it looked forced. "Come on, I'll introduce you guys to your brother."

Introductions didn't take that long since Sasha knew Percy, and apparently so did Ryan. Percy led them to the cabin for Poseidon's kids, closing the door behind them.  
"So here's the Poseidon cabin."  
Cabin 3 was amazing. The walls were made of rough gray stone with bits of seashell. The windows all gave a beautiful view of a shimmering blue-green ocean with pure white sea foam. From the ceiling hung little bronze figurines of sea horses. Like, _literal _sea horses, with the head, mane, and first two legs of a horse, but from the torso down they had a tail like a mermaid. There was also some sort of illusion on the ceiling, because the roof looked like rippling water above them. Off in one of the corners stood a grey stone fountain with seashells embedded in its body. A fish spewed out salt water (she didn't know how she knew, she just did) into the little pool, spraying mist so that it made a rainbow. She walked towards it, and at the bottom of the fountain gold coins glittered under the water. She reached in to pull one out, surprised when her arm came back out dry. She'd completely submerged her hand in water, and it was utterly dry, not one drop of water on her. The coin was dry, too.  
"It's a power of the children of Poseidon" Percy said from behind her, and she whirled. He was watching her, a bemused expression on his face. He walked toward her and she held out the coins.  
"Those're Greek drachma. They're the currency on Mount Olympus, so sometimes demigods use them too. That fountain, Poseidon put that there so we could make IM's."  
Ryan stared at them from across the room. "Demigods use instant messaging?"  
Percy sighed. "No, _Iris messaging_. With a rainbow. Watch." Percy took the coin from Sasha and tossed it into the mist. Sasha expected it to clatter to the floor on the opposite side of the fountain, but instead it disappeared into the rainbow.  
"Oh Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering. Annabeth Chase, Camp Half Blood." Percy said. At first, nothing happened. Percy's eyebrows furrowed, and he stared at the mist, confused. Ryan raised an eyebrow.  
"What was that supposed to—" He cut himself off when the image in the rainbow changed so that we were watching Annabeth, sword fighting against one of her siblings in the Athena cabin. She really was an amazing fighter. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and she had dirt all over her face, but she didn't seem to notice, or care. She jabbed, parried, and struck at her opponent until they were on the ground, her sword's tip at her brother's throat. She smiled and pulled her weapon back away from him, turning to face Percy and Sasha, and Ryan, who had come to stand next to them in front of the rainbow.  
"Hey guys. Seaweed Brain's showed you what an IM is, I see." She observed.  
"Alright, well, I'll see you guys later. I gotta go for now. Bye guys!" She said, and she swept her hand through the connection, her image fading.

Most of the rest of the morning they spent hanging out in the cabin, trying to just settle in. At one point Jonathan and Leo came over, just to hang out and goof off. Then the conch sounded and the five of them made their way to lunch, splitting way to go to their respective parent's table. Ryan, Sasha, and Percy all sat together, but mostly they talked about little things, nothing necessarily important. Everyone kept looking over at their table and whispering, and it made Sasha uncomfortable. She acted like she couldn't notice, but she was wary of every little thing she did, knowing several people would see.  
"So you guys came to camp with Nico?" Percy asked.  
"Yeah. He's kind of weird, isn't he? I mean, he's a nice person, but why is he so…_dark_?" Ryan asked, and Percy raised an eyebrow.  
"He's the son of Hades." He told the younger boy, and Ryan shrugged.  
"He could be more friendly."  
"I understood that he was super nice to you, which you should be grateful for. Son of Hades or no, you don't want that kid as an enemy." Percy advised.  
"Are you guys good friends?" Sasha asked, and both Percy and Ryan turned to look at her; she'd kept quiet this whole time.  
"Yeah, we're pretty close. A couple near-death experiences, betrayals, and life-saving moments do that." He said after some silence. Sasha nodded, taking a bite of her turkey and cheese sandwich.  
"I heard some of the Hermes kids talking earlier. They said he was dating?" Ryan asked Percy, and Sasha froze, hoping the boys didn't notice it. She assumed they didn't, because neither boy turned to look at her. Percy's face scrunched up into a sour expression.  
"Ugh, don't get me started on _that_." Percy muttered.  
"So it's true?" Ryan asked, and Sasha wasn't sure if she imagined it or not, but she thought she saw Ryan's eyes dart to her as he said it. It happened so quickly she wasn't sure.  
"Yes it's true, and he couldn't have a more horrible taste in girls!" The older boy exclaimed, and Sasha looked down at her plate, pretending not to be paying any attention, but listening intently.  
"So then who is it?" Ryan asked.  
"You wouldn't believe it."  
"_Who is it?_"  
Percy turned to Sasha, and she looked up. "Do you want to know?" He asked her, and she smiled weakly, shaking her head. "No."  
Ryan rolled his eyes. "Who cares? _I _want to know! Who is it?"  
Percy shrugged, biting into his steak.  
Ryan glared at his sister. "Tell him you want to know."  
"But I don't care to know." She lied.  
"_Tell him you want to know so he'll tell me._"  
Sasha sighed. "Fine. Who?"  
Percy narrowed his eyes at her, then shrugged. "Drew."


	8. Chapter 8

Sasha choked on her food, then remembered her brothers were both watching her and regained her uninterested aura. She raised an eyebrow.

"Drew? Do I know her?" She asked, and Ryan rolled her eyes.

"The daughter of Aphrodite from yesterday?"

Sasha nodded, acting as if it had just dawned on her. "Ohhhh. Ew, why her?" She asked, and Percy rolled his eyes. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" She asked, and Ryan shook his head.

"Nothing."

Sasha was a killing machine at sword fighting after lunch, and Ryan and Percy stood aside gaping at her as she decapitated dummy after dummy to nothing but piles of limbs scattered across the training grounds. She was mostly frustrated at Nico, that being the reason her ADHD was going into overdrive, but she realized the adrenaline didn't last and quickly grew exhausted. Even with one broken arm she had managed to out-fight Ryan, but she was no match for Percy. The guy was impossible to beat. In no time the conch sounded, signalizing it was time to play capture the flag. Percy had already explained to them how the game worked over lunch, telling them their cabin was teamed up with Athena (shocker), Dionysus, Apollo, Hephaestus, Demeter, and several of the other minor god cabins. _'Funny how Aphrodite and Hades are together'_ Sasha'd thought bitterly. Now as they made their way to the woods, she was a bit nervous. Percy said no one was allowed to purposely hurt other campers, but there were usually accidents. They were given armor (which was especially hard to put on, thanks to her cast) and told their positions and jobs in the game. Sasha and Ryan would stick together with a bunch of other campers defending their flag. Annabeth had placed their flag by a safe house in the woods everyone referred to as 'bunker 9'. Jonathan and some of his siblings climbed up into nearby trees to help defend their base while the rest of his cabin mates went along with Annabeth, Percy, and Leo to work as offense. Before leaving with the others, Leo handed Sasha and Ryan each a little clay vase with a fabric lid over it. He smiled suspiciously and winked.  
"Water bombs" he said, motioning to the jars. He smiled and raced out of view, yelling "Happy Hunger Games & may the odds be ever in your favor!" as he disappeared into the woods.  
Ryan turned to his sister and shrugged. "Leo is _seriously _ADHD."  
Sasha laughed. "Aren't we all?"  
Ryan raised an eyebrow. "You know what's weird? You don't have dyslexia, but just about every other demigod does."  
Sasha smiled. "Cool."  
Ryan rolled his eyes and opened his mouth, about to protest, when something rustled in the thicket. Sasha's eyes widened and she tightened her grip on the sword she'd been given. She felt Ryan's back press against hers and realized he was also wielding his weapon and expected them to fight back to back. Awkwardly, her eyes skimmed the bushes until she saw something move slightly off to her left out of the corner of her eye. Looking at it more closely, she realized that patch of greenery was darker than the other parts of the woods. In a moment she realized what was going on and jumped to stand in front of the flag as the moving shadow stopped abruptly, a mere foot away from me. Ryan stared at me.  
"Sasha, what are you doing? You do realize something could pop out at any moment and you decided to go hopping around like some rabid bunny?"  
Sasha rolled her eyes and lifted her arm so her sword was pointing at the shadow ahead of her. "Ryan, say hi to Nico."  
Nico muttered and abandoned his shadowy cover, glaring at Sasha.  
"I was about to win you know." He said, and Sasha rolled her eyes.  
"Yeah, well, you didn't," Just then the conch sounded, signaling the end of the games, and Annabeth came running into the clearing, carrying a black flag. Her hair bounced as she raced to their home, Percy fending off the following Ares campers. Sasha turned to smile at Nico. "and it seems like we did."

Sasha found ignoring Nico slightly enjoyable. She was oddly pleased to catch Nico, an arm around Drew, glaring at Sasha and Jonathan as they laughed and joked. Eventually Annabeth made her way to Sasha, Jonathan, Leo, and Ryan, where they were joking and laughing and celebrating victory, and told them that later she and Percy and a bunch of other demigods were heading down to the beach to watch the sunset and swim at night. They all agreed to meet them there, and with a final smile in their direction, Annabeth was lost in the crowd of chattering demigods. Eventually Jonathan was dragged away by some of his siblings, swearing he'd meet them at the beach later, and then Ryan left with some of Aphrodite's daughters, leaving Leo and Sasha. He smiled at her in that crooked way he did whenever he was up to something.  
"What?" Sasha asked.  
"Did you like the water bomb?"  
"I, ah, didn't get the chance to use it." Sasha said, afraid to offend Leo. But it was the truth—she hadn't purposely not used it, she really hadn't had any need for it during the game. His eyes sparkled, and he held out his hand for the little clay bomb he'd given her. She shrugged and pulled it out of her pocket, handing it to him. He smiled, examining it.  
"You're a daughter of Poseidon, so if you're anything like Percy, you can control water. And so what this is, I've stored gallon upon gallon inside the jar, so when you break it open, salt water will come rushing out. In an emergency, it should be pretty useful."  
He handed the little clay creation back to Sasha and she smiled.  
"Thanks."  
"I've been working on a newer model, though. It's made of metal and holds more water, and you press a button to activate it, so if you accidentally drop it it doesn't flood wherever you are in water but only if you press it will it activate."  
Sasha raised an eyebrow, her smile remaining "Why are you going through all the work?"  
He shrugged. "It's something to do."  
Sasha nodded. "Thanks."  
In that moment, Ryan walked back over, his arm around a girl with bouncy chestnut curls and deep blue eyes. She had a childish face and was wearing a blue cold shoulder shirt the brought out the color of her eyes with a simple brown skirt. _Daughter of Aphrodite_, Sasha assumed immediately.  
"Leo, Sasha, meet Charlotte. She's a daughter of Aphrodite."  
Sasha, not knowing what else to do, smiled. "Nice to meet you." She said through her teeth, trying to hide the fact that now, all the children of Aphrodite she met just made her want to punch them in the face. Of course, that had nothing to do with Drew and Nico. Nothing at all.  
Leo raised an eyebrow. "We've met before" he said, winking at Charlotte, and she rolled her eyes.  
"Yes, unfortunately, we have."  
Leo laughed and Charlotte rolled her eyes. Instantly Sasha knew that even if she hadn't been Drew's sister she still wouldn't have liked this girl. Sasha grabbed Leo's hand in her own.  
"Well, you must be right. It must have been an unfortunate encounter _for Leo. _If you'll excuse me, I need to go." She said, turning her back to her brother and Charlotte and dragging Leo along with her. She also caught Nico glaring in their direction, his face a satisfactory shade of scarlet, and she smiled inwardly, dragging Leo along with her towards the cabins.  
"Ugh I hate Aphrodite's kids" Sasha said to Leo, and he laughed.  
"All of them?"  
"All of them."  
"You know my best friend's a daughter of Aphrodite, right?"  
Sasha rolled her eyes. "If she's not that Piper girl, you have a bad choice of friends."  
"You're my friend."  
"My point exactly."  
He laughed. "It is Piper. All those other girls are a pain."  
Sasha, besides herself, smiled. "Right?"  
He raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Why does something tell me you hate them for a reason?"  
She set her jaw, turning to look away from him. "That something is wrong."  
"You're mad because your brother is all stupidly attracted to all of them, aren't you?"  
Sasha, seeing her way out, pretended to sigh out of exasperation. "Whatever." She said, "I'm getting ready to go to the beach. I'll meet you later." She said, rushing up the two steps to her cabin before Leo could protest. Closing the door of what had become known as 'home' to her in such a short amount of time, she sighed, letting out all her anger, and grief, and frustration. She let her back fall back against the wall and slid down until she was sitting on the ground, clutching her legs to her chest, her back against the cool wood door, which sent shivers up her skin. She took a deep breath, then clenched her fists, steeling herself from the emotions that were threatening to overpower. She stood up and calmly walked over to her bed, staring at it with a blank expression momentarily before kicking it with all her might. She yelped and withdrew her foot, throbbing with pain. Rolling her eyes at herself, she shoved the image of Nico's face out of her mind and dressed to go to the beach.

_  
A.N: Okay, so i realized that in the previous chapters, I hadnt really expressed much of how I wanted Sasha's feelings towards Nico to gradually grow. So in this chapter I thought I might somewhat make up for it. Enjoy! xD


	9. Chapter 9

Sasha changed into a simple fuchsia, ruffle, one shoulder bikini. She slid her feet into her flip flops and made her way down to the camp's beach. Apparently more people than Sasha had assumed were invited, since basically the whole camp was there. Someone had set up tiki torches around to give off light, and there was a buffet off by where the grass turned to sand. Unfamiliar with most of the campers, she spent her time making small talk to the few people she did know, but what she secretly wanted was to escape back to her own cabin and pass out in her bed. At one point someone brought out a cake and everyone started singing _Happy Birthday_ and Sasha, exhausted with putting up the happy front, shrugged and made her way along the ocean until she was at the furthest point possible from the rest of the campers. Over here at this end, it seemed much less inhabited than the other side. The light from the party was barely visible from here, and she could barely see the outline of the water on the sand. The noise was mostly gone, too; her ears were more acute to the calming sounds of crickets, seagulls, and the lapping of saltwater against the sand. She sank down to her knees, the sand cool and squishy under her. The water hit against her thighs lightly, and with a relieved sigh, she let herself fall backwards until she was lying down, the feeling of her back pressed up against the sand relaxing. Staring straight ahead, she could make out the constellations Ryan had taught her—Orion, Sagittarius, Pegasi. She knew there were more, but she couldn't locate the others. These three had always been her favorite. She closed her eyes, letting her senses numb so she could hear nothing but her own steady heartbeat and the waves. With her eyes closed, all she could see was darkness. She imagined what it would be like if that was how it was always—a world engulfed in the shadows. She shivered, the cool sand against her back suddenly uncomfortable, like shards of ice slicing her back open. Throwing her eyes open, a familiar face came into view. Shaggy black hair, pale skin, black eyes. She sat up, the pressure from the sand on her back dissolving. He gestured to the spot next to her, asking if she wanted him to sit with him, and she shrugged, pulling her eyes away from him to gaze out to the ocean.  
"Whatever" She said, her tone clipped. She kept her eyes fixed on the ocean as he took his seat. At night, it looked as black as ink—and just as thick and uninviting.  
"What're you doing over here?" He asked.  
"I was looking to have some time to myself" She said, being as obvious as she could and hoping he would understand and leave. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him nod and turn his gaze to look out over the sea too. She mentally cursed in frustration; either he didn't get the hint or he did and just stayed to annoy her. She assumed the latter.  
"So…..I hear my girlfriend isn't the best of your friends?" He asked, and Sasha laughed bitterly.  
"Hardly" She spat. Nico chuckled beside her and she turned to give him a dirty look.  
"I fail to see the humor in the fact that she shoved me into a fruit bowl." She said, and Nico went into full out laughter. She rolled her eyes and stood up.  
"Gods, you're totally worthless." She murmured. She began to walk off, back to her own cabin, when she felt his hand grip around her, gently pulling her back. The heat from his hand sent shivers up her skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake. She turned to face him, gently pulling her hand away. He was so close to her she could see the small rising and falling of his chest. He was wearing a black shirt, which seemed odd for someone to wear at a beach party, although she'd never seen him wear anything else other than black. He looked her in the eyes and Sasha averted her gaze quickly. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he had a bucket in his hand and had dumped the content over Sasha's head. Sasha watched, in shock, as the water flowed around and away from her skin like an invisible force had pushed it away. It splashed down at her feet, and she stared incredulously at the smirking son of Hades.  
"That's funny, is it?" She asked. He nodded, laughing.  
"y-your…face…." He said through peals of laughter. Sasha nodded. She averted her gaze to the ocean and smiled evilly. Nico was only a moment too late in realizing what Sasha was planning. Just as his eyes widened, a wave of water came crashing down around him. There was a tugging sensation in her gut, as if she'd eaten a powerful magnet and now her innards were being pulled towards an anonymous source. After both the feeling in her gut and the wave was gone, Nico was left sputtering and gasping on the ground, but he seemed overall okay. She burst into laughter and he raised an eyebrow at her.  
"Oh really?" He asked, Sasha didn't know what he was thinking, but that bizarre, evil genius look in his eyes made her nervous. Suddenly he had his arms wrapped around her and even the dim light from the party off on the other side of the beach and the light from the moon and stars disappeared. She was in total darkness, just as she had been in before when she'd been lying down. She felt as if broken remnants of glass were piercing her skin. She could feel her body burning up to a point where she felt as if her body was aflame, while at the same time she was so cold she felt frozen to death. She screamed. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the illusion was gone and she was back on the beach, the moon and the distant lights and the stars comforting.  
"Shh." A voice breathed into her ear, and she realized he still had his arms around her and had put his hand up to cover her mouth when she'd screamed. He chuckled, and she bit his finger. He jumped away from her, cursing, and she turned to glare at him. She was just about to call him some very unethical names when a voice from a mere few yards away beat her to responding.  
"Well, wasn't that _adorable."_  
Sasha recognized that bitter, sadistic tone even before she saw the horrific being. Drew had done her straight jet black hair up into a high ponytail and was wearing a strapless bikini, although Sasha couldn't tell what color it was because of the light. Unfortunately, the light didn't seem to spare Sasha the view of the girl's face, and Sasha could see in the other girl's eyes that she'd been watching them for a while. Sasha turned to look at Nico, who had his hands clenched into fists at his sides, and he turned to leer at Sasha for a moment before walking over to Drew and wrapping his arm around her. She smiled at Sasha triumphantly and the couple made their way back to the party, without one backwards glance back at Sasha.

Sasha had no memory of falling asleep on the beach, but the next morning she woke up wrapped in a warm blanket on the sand, and although water was lapping peacefully around her, she was dry, as was the blanket. She stood up groggily and made her way to her cabin. When she arrived, she noticed a note taped to the door, addressed to her.  
_Sasha,  
You fell asleep on the beach last night and when I tried to bring you back to the cabin you started yelling at me, though I'm pretty sure you were also half-asleep, so I just brought you a blanket and let you sleep there.  
-Percy_

At first, Sasha read it normally. It was easy for Sasha to read English, considering the fact that she wasn't dyslexic, but it took her a moment to realize that this was a whole other language entirely. She stared at the paper incredulously studying the Greek letters and words. She'd subconsciously read the Greek words, understood what they'd said, and then translated them into English mentally so it came to her naturally. The whole fact that she had just been able to do that was beyond her, and she smiled, slightly proud, as she entered the cabin.  
She changed out of the swimsuit from the previous night and showered quickly, drying her hair and changing into a regular camp tee and high-waisted jean shorts with a thick light brown belt. She did her hair up in a ponytail, but decided against it when she looked in the mirror and was reminded of Drew the night before. She pulled it out of the ponytail and did it in two simple braids on each side of her head before making her way to breakfast.


	10. Chapter 10

Breakfast felt slightly awkward for Sasha. Ryan kept glaring over at Nico and Drew, who were sitting at the same table even though it was against the rules. Sasha felt like glaring in their direction too, but resisted the temptation. She refused to give Nico, _or Drew_, the satisfaction. Instead she just picked at her food, uninterested. _'Besides,'_ She thought, _'Ryan's only giving them dirty looks because he can't go sit at Aphrodite's cabin with all Drew's sisters.' _The thought made her mouth taste metallic, and she sneered at Ryan. He looked at her incredulously.  
"What did _I _do?" He asked, and she shrugged.  
"So why'd you fall asleep over at the beach last night?" Percy asked, obviously curious as to what had happened.  
"I dunno. I guess I was just really tired. And the beach was a peaceful place to pass out." She said, biting into her bagel.  
Ryan didn't look as if he believed her, but he said nothing. Percy, also, shrugged silently. Involuntarily, Sasha snuck a quick glance over her shoulder to where Hades' table was to catch a quick look at Nico, but turned away hastily when she saw him already looking.

Sasha still did pretty bad in archery, even though she was getting better. She still missed the target countless times. But whenever she _did _happen to hit the target, she got a bull's eye.  
"Either all or nothing, I guess?" Jonathan joked, handing her another arrow. She smirked and notched the arrow, leveling it with her eye and focusing. She released the string and the arrow flew from the bow, landing in a shrub of trees about 5 meters away from the target. She cursed and laughed along with Jonathan.  
"Wow, Jonathan had told me you were bad, but I didn't know you _really sucked._" Nico noted, stepping from behind the shrub and retrieved the arrow she'd just shot. He walked over and handed it to her.  
"I must ask, though. Were you _trying _to kill me?" He smiled at her, and she rolled her eyes.  
"Had I known you were there, I probably would have been. As it was, it seems I knew what I was doing." She responded, smiling and taking the arrow from him. Behind her, Jonathan stifled a laugh. Nico shrugged.  
"Fair enough." He said, and Sasha turned away from him and notched the arrow again. Just as she was about to release the arrow, Nico spoke up.  
"You're doing it wrong." He said, and Sasha, distracted, released her arrow at random, lodging it into a nearby tree. The nymph pulled it out of her tree's trunk and yelled at them, making rapid gestures with her hands, then broke the arrow in half and stomped off. Jonathan turned to peer at Nico in disbelief.  
"Uhm, excuse you, I know how to teach people archery, thank you very much, and if you should be worried about anything, it's why in the name of Zeus you're dating that disgusting worm of a—"  
Nico whirled to look at Jonathan.  
"You don't say _a word_ about that." He said, his tone clipped. Jonathan shrugged.  
"Whatever. You get out of here, I still need to teach her how to shoot at annoying sons of Hades." Jonathan told Nico, and the other boy smirked, trudging off without a glance back at either of them. Jonathan turned to Sasha, sighing.  
"I take it you guys don't like each other?" She inquired, and Jonathan laughed.  
"You're spot-on. We're best friends." He said, and Sasha raised an eyebrow.  
"Nico, Leo, and I have been best friends for years, and I can't stand either of them." He laughed. "Now focus. We don't need you irritating anymore nymphs."  
Sasha did as Jonathan told her and aimed the arrow at the bull's eye. She released the string and heard the air whistle and the arrow flew directly to the center of the target. As she reloaded her bow, she couldn't help but think of how Nico had said _'don't say a word about _that_' _instead of _'don't say a word about _her_'_, and she couldn't help but wonder if he disagreed with the name Jonathan had called Drew.

Sasha skipped the rest of her activities after archery. She'd begun to receive massive cramps and had rushed to the bathroom, only to realize her period had come. Sasha knew that not most girls had the massive cramps problem, but was overwhelmed with relief when Annabeth understood why Sasha wanted to skip on the rest of the day. Without mentioning a word about Sasha's menstruation to Ryan and Percy, she managed to convince them to leave her alone. Sasha lied in her bunk, staring up at the ceiling as the little hippocampi twirled around on their strings and the illusion placed on the ceiling to make it look like she was underwater rippled and swayed. Eventually Percy came back to the cabin, carrying with him a tray of food. He set it on the table next to her, handing her a pill.  
"Annabeth said that there was a virus going around and that this would help." He said, and Sasha smiled.  
"Thanks." She said, tossing the medicine to the back of her mouth and washing it down with the bottle of water on the tray. Percy sat with her making small talk as she ate, and she was glad he was there. He was much better company than Ryan would have been, and he seemed more like a friend than the annoying brother she had expected him to be after living with Ryan her whole life.  
"So you had archery today?" He asked her, and she nodded.  
"How was it? I mean, I suck at archery, and so does Ryan, so how do you do?"  
Sasha thought of her archery class. She thought of Jonathan and Nico and the hurt she'd felt when Jonathan had mentioned the fact Nico was dating, and how she'd nearly felt like shooting both in the gut.  
"It was fine. I suck too."  
Percy lied down on his bed, which was directly next to hers. He was gazing up at the ceiling, as she had been, and seemed lost in thought.  
"Percy, was there ever a time when you wondered if Annabeth didn't like you and was really into someone else and you liking her was hopeless?" She blurted out, the question haunting her. Percy turned to face her, his green eyes boring into hers. He sat up and raised an eyebrow.  
"Yeah, there was. It was this guy named Luke. Annabeth had known him since she was seven, and he was only a couple years older than her, and I wondered…" He shook his head. "He turned evil and began to work for Kronos. Annabeth always refused to believe he was evil, so I thought she must have liked him. When he died, we began to date. Why do you ask?"  
"Do you ever wonder what it would be like if he hadn't died?" She asked, ignoring her brother's question. His eyes darkened.  
"Yes, I always wonder what it would be like if he hadn't died. But then I think of the way Annabeth looks at me, and I lose my worry. Why?"  
His eyes felt like the lights they shined on a criminal when he was being interrogated. Sasha felt nervous and fidgety under his gaze and shrugged.  
"I was just curious." She said, and Percy raised an eyebrow, falling back down so he was once again lying on his back.  
"Sasha, Ryan and I both know you like Nico. It's not like you're _that good_ at hiding it." He said, and Sasha stiffened.  
"I've liked a lot of guys before. So what?" She asked, her tone icy, and Percy shrugged, his relaxed, laid-back persona suddenly irritating to Sasha.  
"Nothing. I was just telling you." He said, and although he didn't seem to be lying, Sasha didn't believe him.

"_Sasha!"_ Andrea shrieked, running up and embracing Sasha in a hug. Sasha squirmed under her best friend's hold, finding it difficult to breathe.  
"And just why the hell do you think you can disappear off the face of the freaking Earth without one word of warning to me? Hmm?" She asked Sasha, releasing her grip and averting her eyes to glare at her, slapping her on the arm slightly.  
"You couldn't have called, or texted, or even _emailed_ me?" Andrea asked. In truth, over the past few days Sasha hadn't even _thought_ of Andrea, and the guilt was killing her. She'd left her phone off and had stashed it away in one of the drawers in the table by her bed, and had out of sheer luck found it while searching for pads. Upon turning it on, her phone had buzzed in her hand like crazy from all the messages she'd received from her best friend over the past few days. She'd replied immediately, apologizing and telling her to meet her at Red Mango, Andrea's favorite fro-yo place in New York.  
"And I also tried Ryan's phone and he wouldn't answer either! I tried your house phone several times every day and no one ever even picked up the freaking line, and the one time your mom answered her cell phone she said you guys were at 'summer camp', which made _no sense,_ considering the fact that it's mid-_October!_" Andrea continued, and Sasha couldn't think of any way to explain anything that had happened to her recently to her best friend.  
"Sorry?" Sasha tried, and Andrea glared at her like she wanted to rip her throat out.  
_**"Sorry?!**_ That's all you've got to say to me? And _where on God's green Earth did you get that cast!?"_ She screeched, and Sasha turned to look down at her foot. She did, indeed, still have the cast, but she'd grown so used to it it wasn't uncomfortable and didn't make her walk awkwardly anymore.  
"And how the hell are you walking on it? Shouldn't you be using crutches or something?"  
_'Shit. What the hell am I supposed to tell her?'_ She mentally cursed herself for not thinking up a story in advance. Andrea looked like she was about to say something but stopped short, looking at something behind Sasha.  
"Well well well, return of the stalker." She muttered under her breath. Sasha's eyes widened and she turned to see Nico and Ryan walking towards them.  
"Since when does Ryan like hanging out with emo's?" Andrea hissed under her breath, steering Sasha into the direction of the far end of the restaurant. Sasha rolled her eyes at her friend.  
"He's _not _emo, just incredibly annoying."  
Andrea glanced back towards the boys, who were ordering yogurt. A flash of annoyance passed through Sasha when Nico turned to them and smiled and waved.  
"I'll say."  
They began to walk towards them, fro-yo in hand.  
"Hey Andrea." Ryan greeted her, smiling. Andrea tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.  
She stuck her chin out, turning away from him. He took a seat next to her, Nico sliding in next to Sasha.  
"Ryan, Nico, can you please tell me _why the hell you are here?_" Sasha asked, and Nico shrugged, handing her a cup of frozen yogurt. Sasha shoved it away, despite the fact that it was her favorite.  
"We wanted ice cream, but Percy said that this place has amazing fro-yo, so we came here."  
"Percy?" Andrea asked.  
"Our brother." Ryan informed her, taking a bite of yogurt. He swallowed it and his eyes widened. His mouth formed an '_O_'. "Cold! Oh God, Brain freeze!" He said, and Andrea rolled her eyes.  
"Oh, look, Percy's here too." Nico said, pointing over to the door, where Percy was just walking in. He smiled and scooted into the booth next to Nico, so now Sasha was squished against the wall.  
"Andrea, meet my brother, Percy." She said through grit teeth  
Andrea turned to look at Sasha.  
"Your _brother?_"  
"Yupp." Percy said, grabbing Sasha's yogurt from where she'd shoved it away and taking a bite out of it.  
"But how?" She asked.  
"_Longggg _story. It has to do with why I have a cast and no crutches, why Ryan's even more annoying than usual, why Nico and Ryan are friends, and why I feel like punching Nico in the face and ripping his throat out."  
"Hey!" Both Ryan and Nico said in unison.  
Andrea smiled. "I'd love to hear it."


	11. Chapter 11

"Okay, uh…where do I begin…Guys?" Sasha asked the boys, looking for some help.  
"Okay, so I'm their brother since we have the same dad. Their mom wasn't legally allowed to keep Sasha and Ryan so she ran off and hid them." Percy began, and Nico cut him off.  
"But like recently their dad, His name is…er…..Jason, by the way," He said, and Ryan rolled his eyes.  
"Jason? Really?" He said, and Nico glared at him.  
"So their dad found them and sent me in to keep an eye on them. Percy's like my best friend but I've also worked as a secret agent before, so it only made sense to send me instead of Percy. Besides, had he sent Percy then Ryan and Sasha would have noticed that they look like him."  
"A secret agent? That's a bit far-fetched, isn't it?" Sasha asked, her tone blunt. Nico turned to stare at her.  
"Yes, there's no point in denying it. I'm your knight in black."  
Ryan choked on his yogurt with laughter.  
"Why do I get the feeling you guys are making all this up off the top of your head?" Andrea asked sarcastically.  
"Because they are." Sasha said, and all three boys turned to stare at her.  
"Fine, if you've got a more believable story…." Nico muttered, taking a bite of yogurt.  
"It'll be believable because it'll be the truth." She said, and Percy shot her a warning look. _'Oh come on Percy, like I'd really tell her we're actually demigods. Have a little faith, you know?'_ She thought, rolling her eyes.  
"Okay, so they were telling the truth about my mom and that whole custody thing and all that, but my dad's name is Po…uhhh…..eter. Peter. So it's also true that Nico and Percy are good friends, but Nico's an idiot. He's not an undercover agent."  
"I kind of figured that much." Andrea said, laughing, as Nico muttered something under his breath.  
"So anyways, my dad just wanted to make sure we were doing okay, and Percy didn't want to go since, you know, he's got a girlfriend and all and he wasn't really sure how long he'd be here, and then there's that obvious fact that we would have found it odd that he looks so much like us, so he went and whined to his best friend as all boys do. And Nico thought it sounded fun so he told our dad he'd go. And so that's sort of why Nico kept acting like a weird stalker dude and all—"  
"I was _not!_" Nico cut in indignantly.  
"—and that's why I disappeared for that indefinite amount of time. I was with my dad. As for the cast, well, I broke a bone. So my dad's apparently a doctor or something so he found this the perfect opportunity to test out a new type of treatment. And voila."  
Andrea seemed to believe it. "But you could've answered your phone."  
Sasha laughed. "To be honest, I turned it off and lost it for the longest time."  
Andrea laughed, too. "That's so like you."  
"I know."

"You guys really are the most annoying people I've ever met," Sasha began once they were all in Percy's car, making their way back to camp. "Including you Percy. You've managed to make my list." She said, and Percy laughed.  
"Oddly enough, that doesn't faze me."  
"I'm surprised you actually know what that word means." Ryan told the older boy, and Percy smirked.  
"It all comes with dating Annabeth." He said, and Nico laughed. Then he turned to look at Sasha, who was glaring at him, and abruptly stopped laughing. She turned to look at Percy in the driver's seat.  
"You know, what I don't understand is why _he_ had to join in on this whole affair." Sasha spat, putting as much venom in the word _he _as she motioned to Nico as possible. "Why not get someone I actually don't mind being around, like Jonathan? Or Leo?"  
Nico rolled his eyes and turned to look out the window. "It's not _me _you don't like, it's Drew."  
Sasha stifled a bitter laugh. "To be honest with you, I'm not crazy about you _or _your psychotic man-eating beastess."  
Ryan burst into laughter at Sasha's description of Drew, but Percy eyed the trio sitting in the back warily.  
"So the fact that I saved your miserable little life means nothing, then?" Nico spat, whirling back to face Sasha. Though his black eyes shone with rage and made her nervous, and didn't show it.  
"If I'm not mistaken, you wouldn't have even _had to save my life _if you hadn't showed up in my life in the first place! If I'm correct, _nothing _went wrong in my life until you showed up. So don't try to make it sound like you were, or are, or whatever, my knight in shining armor, because you're not! So go kiss Drew's ass as much as you want and do me the favor of staying the _hell away from me._" She hissed. The car was silent for what seemed like forever, and the tension built up to the point where Sasha imagined the car would explode from the pressure. Percy and Ryan were both watching them, waiting to see what would happen next. Nico looked as if he wanted to slap her, but he finally just exhaled and turned to stare out the window. The rest of the ride back to camp was utter silence, save the hum of the car, and Sasha couldn't help but wonder if she'd regret what she'd just said.

Upon arriving to camp Nico had gotten out faster than Sasha would have thought physically possible and slammed the door behind him, not to mention right in Sasha's face, as he stormed up the hill to camp. When Sasha and her brothers arrived at their cabin, even Ryan didn't seem to be in the mood to joke. Sasha hated it. It wasn't like this was the first time she'd liked an ass hole, and it definitely wouldn't be the last. So what was the problem? She slid into her bed and fell asleep, images of her yelling at Nico flashing through her dreams. At some point in the night, the dreams had alternated from her and Nico to something else entirely. It seemed around mid-day, and she was standing, facing what looked to be ancient ruins of some sort. As tourists passed, she caught this American couple mention the words _temple_ and _Saturn_. She knew that the Romans had taken the original Greek god's names and changed them to the names of planets, so she assumed she was somewhere in Rome, looking at some God's ruins, but she couldn't remember who Saturn was. It made the most sense to say that it was Poseidon and he was trying to contact her, but for some odd reason she knew it wasn't him. She watched as tourists began to disappear like wisps of wind. The sky darkened and the ruins began to glow a dazzling gold. Then the voice spoke.  
_'Ahhh, Daughter of Poseidon, I've waited a long time to meet you. Especially since that blight of a brother of yours blasted my essence back to Tartarus.'_  
The voice wasn't…a voice. It was harsh and the noise it made sounded like all the worst noises in the world merged together as one earsplitting voice. She suddenly, with a horrified start, realized who Saturn was. She was in the presence of Kronos.


	12. Chapter 12

She shivered and willed her mind to leave this place it had brought her too. Unfortunately, she remained in the presence of the titan. His laughter rolled over her skin like a blade peeling her skin from her body, like one might peel oranges, leaving her feeling bare, exposed. Vulnerable. She struggled to remember everything she'd been taught over the past weeks, but she could barely remember anything with the pounding in her ears_. 'Don't be such a wimp, stupid! It's nothing but a nightmare, calm down._' But what was that Percy had told her? _'Demigod dreams are more real than the dreams of regular mortals._' The only thing worrying her at this point was _just how real_ they were.  
_"You should learn to control your fear and keep your head, child, if you are to be of any use to me."  
_Sasha shivered involuntarily. "I don't want to be of any use to you. I don't want to have anything to do with you." She managed to stutter out, her voice catching several times with her short, hitched breathing. Once again, that sinister, imposing voice responded, rasping in her ears. _"You won't necessarily have a choice, stupid girl. You've too kind a heart, and upon meeting my son, you'll have no choice but to be kind to him."_ Sasha opened her mouth to respond, but the words died in her throat. '_Son?! How the hell could he have a __**son!?**_' She thought, bewildered. As if he'd managed to read her mind, he responded, _"His past is none of your concern. The only way you'll be of any use to him is by becoming an ally of his. And based on what I've observed of your behavior, there should be no problem with that. Just so long as you don't know who my son is." _The titan chuckled, the sound sinister and nerve racking.  
"Why me? What do you want from _me?_" She swore she could see her grandfather's face, half transparent in the sky, ginning down at her wryly.  
_"Why the prophecy, of course."_ He said cryptically. Sasha opened her mouth to ask questions of the titan, but he laughed darkly and suddenly Sasha's stomach knotted up into horrible cramps. Her body began to heat up, and air whooshed past her at a thousand miles an hour. She shut her eyes, releasing an ear-splitting scream, and suddenly everything stopped and there was nothing but darkness.

The darkness quickly melted away to reveal a darkly lit cavern, despite the fact it was smaller than Sasha imagined caverns were. Torches were mounted on the walls burning Greek fire, illuminating the room with an eerie green glow. The walls were made of rock, as well as the floor. Off to one side of the room was a door, and to the other a rack for weapons had been installed into the wall, and on the rack stood several weapons, all made with the same black metal as Nico's. '_This is Nico's cabin_' She realized with a start. _'But just what on earth am I doing here?'_ Pushed up against the wall directly opposite where she was standing was Nico's bed and bedside table, along with his closet. Slowly, stealthily, Sasha advanced toward it. Not sure what she was looking for, she randomly began searching the drawers of his bedside table. A couple drachma, a skull ring, a chain from which hung a ruby, a pouch of ambrosia, a canteen of nectar, some ripped up and crumpled papers, a bone (Sasha had no idea whether it was real or not and had no intentions of finding out). Just as Sasha decided to give up, something in the back of the drawer caught her eye. _'Nico Di Angelo in possession of a _book_?'_ She thought in disbelief, reaching for the black book. Upon opening it, she realized that it was not, in fact, an actual book, but a photo album. Not that this was any less strange. In the beginning of the album, there were several pictures of Nico with a girl with straight black hair and deep brown eyes. She looked so much like him she assumed they were siblings. Then there was Nico. In this picture he looked around twelve years old, with a childish, mischievous grin plastered across his face. His eyes shone a brown, not the almost black color they were now. His hair was a lighter color, too. In his hand he held a little figurine of a man holding a trident. 'What the hell is he doing with a figurine of dad?' She pondered aloud, then, remembering something she saw while rummaging through one of the other drawers, quickly pulled the drawer above the one she was currently searching open. Sifting through it a bit, she smiled triumphantly, pulling out the little figurine of Poseidon. She examined it thoroughly, making out the words  
_Mythomagic Figurine; Poseidon, God of the Sea, Greek. Attack power: 9800 Defensive Skills: 7060_ _© Hermes & co._  
_'So it's a game,' _she thought, returning the figurine to its place and continuing to look through the photo album. There were several other photos of him and the girl, and then they stopped. The photo album had several blank pages left, but Nico had failed to fill them. Shrugging, Sasha closed it to put it away when the door banging open caused her to jump, dropping the album onto the floor and springing to her feet. Whirling to face the door, she already had her mouth ajar, prepared to wriggle her way out of this with excuses, when he saw Drew and Nico passionately making out in the doorframe.  
"Uh…." She shifted her weight uncomfortably, trying to get their attention. "Hello?"  
The couple continued to ignore her, continuing on with what they were doing. Sasha couldn't control her heart as it contracted, and she sighed, fully knowledgeable that her disappointment was written all over her face. Not that she was worried—she was sure they would notice. She bent over and picked up the photo album, about to put it away and leave, when a picture fluttered loose from the book and to the ground. Muttering, she leaned to pick it up, and froze when she saw her own face smiling up at her. She remembered when this picture had been taken; it was the summer before she began high school for the first year. She and Andrea had gone to a soap soccer party, and this picture was taken of the two of them making silly faces to the photographer, soap suds partially covering their beings. Sasha's hair was down and curly, like it always got whenever she got wet, and her eyes were wide and shining. Sasha smiled at the recollection of that day, but raised her eyebrow suspiciously. This was one of the few pictures Sasha brought with her to camp, so what was _Nico_ doing with it? And, more than that, why weren't there any pictures of _Drew?_ Indignantly, Sasha tightened her grip on the photo until it was crumpled and there were creases down it. She threw the album into the drawer, not bothering to care what state she left it in, and shoved her way past Nico and Drew, still passionately intertwined, marching over to the beach.

Sasha yawned, turning onto her other side in her bed before slowly ascending into a seated position. She had a skull-cracking headache, and she tightly gripped her bed sheets in each of her hands. She sighed, exhausted, and turned down to look at her hands, where her right hand, along with her left, was bundled up in sheets. But unlike her left hand, Sasha's right hand was also gripped tightly on a photograph. Her eyes widened and she muttered in exasperation.  
"Shit."


	13. Chapter 13

At this point, considering the fact that she was actually clutching the picture of her and Andrea in her hand, she questioned whether being in Nico's cabin had been a dream or not. She shoved the picture into the garbage bin and changed for the day. She shrugged on one of the regular camp tee's and some ripped silver jeans. She slipped on her black aviator boots and slid a headband into her hair, restraining it from falling into her face.  
"'Morning Miss Sleep-all-day." Ryan said, emerging from the bathroom in a camp shirt similar to hers and a pair of worn jeans. His hair was tangled and messy and wet, so she assumed he had just taken a shower.  
"I didn't sleep all day" She said defensively, and Ryan raised an eyebrow, pointing to the digital clock on Percy's bedside table.  
12:53 A.M.  
"Well why do you care?" She asked as Percy walked in with Annabeth.  
"Ryan come on we need to go now if we're going to—oh. Hey Sasha." Percy said, smiling.  
"Okay I'm coming. Sheesh." Ryan said, ruffling his hair with his hand and walking toward the door.  
"You'd better hurry, Lizabeth's pissed." Annabeth warned, and Ryan shrugged, exiting the cabin.  
"Hey Sasha, we're heading out to Fuddruckers's for lunch if you wanna join." Percy offered.  
_'They're going on a double date, and they asked me if I want to come alone. Hmm, tricky question, let me think….'  
_"No thanks." She said, and Annabeth raised an eyebrow.  
"Your cabin's table will be empty at lunch." She warned, and Sasha shrugged.  
"It's not like I ever actually sit there and eat anyways." She joked, and Percy shrugged.  
"Alright," Percy said, "if you need anything call me."  
"M'kay" Sasha said, no longer paying attention, now looking at her phone, responding to Andrea's text.

Sasha initially wanted to just skip lunch altogether, but her stomach had other ideas. She was down in the forge with Leo, watching and joking with him as he built some weird contraption-thingy, and her stomach grumbled. Loudly. Leo raised an eyebrow at her and burst into laughter.  
"It's not _funny_." She hissed, blushing. When Leo didn't appear like he was going to stop laughing anytime soon, the corners of her mouth slowly twisted up into a smile. She smacked him on the head lightly.  
"Shut up." She muttered through peals of laughter, and slowly they calmed down.  
"Have you not eaten anything all day?"  
"Nope."  
He rolled his eyes, shoving her shoulder lightly.  
"You're an idiot Sasha."  
"No argument there."  
He sneered and then suddenly his face lit up. He smiled mischievously and turned to rummage through some of his other inventions. Sasha sighed.  
"Leo, I'm not an automaton and I _refuse _to eat your scrap metal." She said, and he laughed.  
"No, I know," he said, continuing to rummage through the mound, "but I'm looking for…aha!" He said, turning around to smile at her in triumph. In his hands he held something that looked like….  
"A T.V.? Really?"  
Leo rolled his eyes. "You're hopeless."  
"Thank you."  
"Look, ever heard the phrase 'TV dinner'?"  
"No."  
Leo threw his hands up in exasperation and Sasha laughed.  
"I'm joking, I know the phrase. What about it?"  
"Well, I'm going to make you a TV dinner. You like chicken?"  
Sasha rolled her eyes. "Oh please. That's ridiculous. There's no possible way you could make a chicken come out of that…." She let her voice trail off when Leo stuck his hand _through _the T.V. screen, producing a chicken burger from Chick-Fil-A. He smirked at her.  
"What was that you were saying?" He challenged her, and she raised an eyebrow.  
"How?"  
"Bit of rigging. I got the Hecate cabin to place a spell on it, too, so it's charmed."  
Sasha eyed him suspiciously, then shrugged and took the sandwich, munching on it as Leo continued on fiddling with his mechanism.

After her free time she spent with Leo, she had Demigod Etiquette with Aphrodite and Iris's cabins. Unfortunately Drew ruined her plan of sneaking back to her cabin and telling everyone she was sick by storming into Leo's section of the forge to escort her to the class.  
'_I swear, one day I'm going to lose it and this girl is going to end up headless. Then we'll see how Nico likes her.'_  
Drew walked along next to her, silently smirking. She didn't seem to care that she'd caused an internal wave of rage inside Sasha, in fact, she seemed to be enjoying it. Which, obviously, infuriated the daughter of Poseidon even more.  
"This class should be of use to you. You'll learn how to actually make yourself not look like a horrific pig." Drew said, masking the insult with a sweet tone.  
Sasha, boiling, responded in the same sweet tone. "Oh, you mean like you dear?"  
Drew snickered. "Poor girl. Did you really think that Nico would _ever _like a leech like yourself? Please."  
Sasha laughed. "As if I'd ever go for _him_. Too emo, too…..dark. In fact, I'm surprised you'd stoop so low. I really figured you'd have the class to go for someone besides the son of _Hades._"  
"You can talk all you want, hun. It's not like I believe you, or _care,_ at that."  
Sasha stopped walking to glare at. Without even thinking, she spoke.  
"Talk to my boyfriend, then tell me all that shit."  
She knew she was lying, but she failed to see how that really mattered at the moment. Drew raised an eyebrow in disbelief.  
"I don't talk to imaginary people. I know no one in their right minds would ever even look at you. Same for the rest of your horrific seashit family."  
Sasha froze. Her vision was tinged with red.  
"Are you talking about my brothers?" she asked, her voice a dangerous whisper.  
Obviously pleased by Sasha's anger, she smiled. "Really, the younger one's a slut, and the older one is just as ugly as they get. Sure he saved camp, but even so, I don't see how Annabeth could be into him."  
That was too much. Sasha shoved Drew, hard, and sent her sprawling on the ground. She kicked her in the gut, and the other girl screamed. Sasha grabbed the daughter of Aphrodite by her hair and shoved her moth into the ground, making her eat the dirt.  
"Say it again, BITCH." She said, and Drew screamed. Sasha felt someone's hands on her, trying to pull her away from Drew, but she wouldn't budge. She continued to shove the girl's face into the dirt. More hands gripped around her and eventually separated her from the other girl. One of the hands gripped her shoulder, steering her away from the group of people now forming around Drew. Percy turned her so that her tear filled eyes were looking straight into his.  
"Sasha, stop. What happened?" His voice was soft but concerned.  
Stuttering and sobbing and sucking in hitched, uneven breaths, she eventually was able to tell him what had happened. His grip on her shoulder tightened, his glare making Sasha feel unnerved.  
"Okay, listen. I'm pretty sure she's going to tell Chiron that she didn't do anything, I mean, not that he'll believe her, but her charmspeak can get people to act as witnesses to defend her story. I'll go explain to him what happened, alright?" He said, and she nodded, her eyes still wet.  
"Hey, don't worry about it. And good job by the way, you have no idea how long I've wanted to put that girl in her place."  
Sasha laughed and nodded, watching as Percy disappeared into the crowd of people to look for Chiron. Eyes turned to gawk at her, and people kept whispering to one another. Cheeks burning, she whirled around, quickly walking back to her cabin.

It wasn't shocking when Sasha was called to the Big house only an hour later. She walked in, anticipating a scene of Drew yelling at Chiron impolite things, referring to Sasha and how she expected that the daughter of Poseidon be reprimanded. Instead, much to her surprise, Sasha walked into a heated argument between Percy and Nico. The two seemed to be truly furious with one another, and both their eyes shone. Chiron seemed to be trying to calm the boys down while Drew sat behind Nico, a smug smirk plastered on her face.  
'_If only I could smack that stupid little smirk off her irrelevant, provocative, hideous face…'  
_"Oh Gods, Nico, she looks like she's going to hit me again." Drew said in a fearful tone, pulling Nico to stand between she and Sasha. Percy rolled his eyes.  
"Shut up Drew." He muttered, and she turned to glare at him. She pointed to her forehead, where she had placed a wrap-bandage.  
"Do you see this? What do you think it was?"  
"I probably smeared your make up and your red devil skin showed." Sasha muttered, and Percy snickered while Drew glared her down.  
"Oh get a grip Drew, I barely got the chance to do any real damage," Sasha spat, and then, as an afterthought, added, "I regret not burying you into the ground so deep I'd never have to see you dog-ugly face again."  
Nico stared at her in disgust.  
"Shut up Sasha."  
She stared at him in disbelief. "And just who the hell do you think _you _are, Mr. I'm-so-cool-I-can-protect-my-useless-girlfriend?"  
"I'm here for the same reasons Percy is here."  
Sasha laughed. "D'you think I _need _Percy here? I can defend myself perfectly fine, thank you very much. It's your girlfriend that's in need of a spokesperson." She turned to face the daughter of Aphrodite. "I truly doubt I caused any fatal damage up there," She said, motioning to Drew's head, "Because it's nothing but empty, and there's nothing to harm."  
Nico's eyes shone. "Watch it, you stupid little—"  
"Every one of you, silence." Chiron spoke up, tapping his hoof loudly against the wooden floor.  
"I've heard enough out of each and every one of you, and I believe Sasha's story to be true."  
Nico stared at Chiron incredulously. "But Chiron—"  
"Let me finish, Nico. I believe Sasha's story, but that does not excuse her from any consequences. Now, for the next two weeks, Drew and Sasha are going to work together to clean up horse stable—"  
"_No! _Chiron, where's the justice? Is there no more freedom of speech around here, you get punished for speaking the truth?" Drew shrieked, and Sasha felt the anger building up in her chest.  
"You call my family _anything _again and I'll drown you so deep in the ocean not even my dad would be able to find your miserable little corpse." Sasha said through gritted teeth, and Percy suppressed a laugh.  
"Drew, insulting someone's family members in and of itself is in tolerable by my standards. And you know Sasha despises you, you were purposely egging her on." Chiron stated, and Nico spoke up.  
"But she didn't—"  
"Seriously Nico, shut up. Your role of Monsieur Attorney can be put aside now." Sasha interrupted, and Nico gawked at her, furious. Which made her feel a little bit better.  
"So, starting Monday, Sasha, Drew, while the rest of the camp is partaking in the bonfire, the two of you will be shoveling manure in the stables." Chiron established, and the two girls moaned. Percy smiled at Sasha. _'What're _you _smirking about? You're not the one who has to clean up tons of flying horse poo'_ she spat at her brother mentally.  
While they were walking out of the Big House, told her,  
"Don't worry about it. Being a child of Poseidon has its Perks." And he smiled, like they shared some amusing inside joke, and walked away, leaving Sasha to simply stare after him, confused. Because honestly, she had no idea how power over water could help with cleaning up Pegasi droppings.


	14. Chapter 14

Cleaning up horse turd was much easier when she used the ocean to sweep it all away, and for about the hundredth time, she mentally thanked Percy for helping her not have to shovel it all away bit by bit until she stunk like poop itself. On top of that, she was finished in under half an hour, and although the effort left her drained, it was much better than her other alternative. Sighing with exhaustion, she observed what she'd done—her half of the stables was spotless, even glittering slightly where the moonlight reflected off the remaining water droplets. Then on Drew's side, just about every other square inch of hay was covered in Pegasi droppings. Sasha rolled her eyes—Drew hadn't shown up, and it didn't seem like she was going to anytime soon.  
_'Not my problem'_ Sasha thought bitterly. She walked away, back to her own cabin. When she opened the door to cabin three, she found Percy and Nico sitting on opposite beds, talking and laughing. She knew that the two boys were good friends, but she'd figured they were still annoyed with each other from their argument in the Big House. Apparently, she was incorrect.  
_'Oh yay.'_ She thought bitterly when the two turned to face her. Percy smiled, and Nico scowled and turned away. Rolling her eyes, she made her way to her own area of the room. Grabbing a pair of Doctor Seuss pajamas she made her way to the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She quickly slid out of her now dirty camp shirt and her shorts and stepped into the shower, letting her body relax as the hot water hit her skin. She took her time in the shower, soaking up the hot water and enjoying the eased tranquility it brought her. Once she was finished, she turned off the water and quickly dressed, the cool air freezing against her heated skin. Dressed in her pajamas, she emerged from the bathroom and made her way to her bunk. Nico was still there, but she ignored him. She crawled into her bed and grabbed the book she was currently reading off her bedside table.  
_  
Will's eyes gleamed in the shadows. "Perhaps you are a clockwork girl. Perhaps Mortmain's warlock father built you, and now Mortmain seeks the secret of how to create such a perfect facsimile of life when all he can build are hideous monstrosities. Perhaps all that beats beneath your chest is a heart made of metal."  
Tessa drew in a breath, feeling momentarily dizzy. His soft voice was so convincing, and yet—"No," she said sharply. "You forget, I remember my childhood. Mechanical creatures do not change or grow. Nor would that explain my ability."  
"I know," said Will with a grin that flashed white in the darkness. "I only wanted to see if I could convince _you_."_

Sasha awoke to the conch sounding in the distance. She sat up, yawning and stretching, and looked around the cabin.  
"Wow, someone actually woke up on time today." Percy teased, and Ryan snickered, tossing a pillow in Sasha's direction. It hit her in the face, and he began to laugh.  
"How's that for horrible aim?" He gloated to Percy, who rolled his eyes at the younger boy.  
"Sasha if you hurry up, we'll wait for you before going to breakfast." Percy offered, and Ryan rolled his eyes at the older boy.  
"Speak for yourself." He said, casting one last stupid grin at Sasha before exiting the cabin. Sasha rolled her eyes and crawled out of bed, something dropping to the ground in the process. Bending to pick up _Clockwork Prince_, she set it down on her bedside table and grabbed a lime green tank top and black shorts. She changed and washed her face, then emerged from the bathroom and made her way to the dining pavilion with Percy. The three of them, she, Percy, and Ryan, sat together and joked and ate. Afterwards, the three siblings made their way to the beach. There was no need to change into swimsuits since they all had the ability to repel water, and Ryan wasted no time running out onto the dock and canon-balling in, using his abilities to increase the splash by tenfold. Sasha sat on the sand nearby, letting the water splash against her toes and cast as Percy and Ryan brought up massive waves to splash one another. She chuckled, recalling the memory of watching the toddler Sasha and Ryan doing the same to each other years ago. She closed her eyes, soaking up the sun, and suddenly she was being lifted up off the ground by two strong arms. She threw her eyes open to see Percy hauling her over the dock. She struggled in his grip and he laughed.  
_'That's funny, is it?' _She thought, and she allowed the tugging sensation in her gut to build up. Slowly, gradually, it increased, until suddenly, without warning, the pain overcame her in a sharp jab to her gut and her eyes widened in pain as gallon upon gallon of saltwater splashed down over her and Percy. She heard Ryan yelling something, but it sounded as if it were coming through a murky haze. She felt Percy willing to keep them both dry, and she felt the water slowly recede as he bent it under his will. She shut her eyes in pain and everything blacked out to nothing.

_'Stupid!'_ Was the first thing Sasha thought to herself when she woke. She sat up, head throbbing with the effort, and was not surprised to see she was in the infirmary. She _was ,_however, shocked to see she was no longer wearing the cast. She stretched her toes, the free feeling suddenly foreign.  
"You're an idiot, you realize." She looked up to see Ryan sitting on a chair next to her cot watching her, his expression slightly amused, slightly annoyed. "You could've killed yourself. Idiot."  
"I _know._"  
He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you know how pissed Percy is, then?"  
"Why is he pissed?"  
Ryan threw his hands up in exasperation. "Hell if I know."  
"You mean tartarus."  
He narrowed his eyes. "Still as annoying as ever, I see."  
"Naturally."  
"Yeah, well, I was only told to stay here until you wake up, so I'll be off. Percy wants to see you, anyways. Oh, and Andrea's been messaging you non-stop. That girl _really _needs a life." Ryan stood up and began to walk to the door, and Sasha grabbed the glass of nectar beside her cot.  
"Oh yeah, and Nico wants to see you." Ryan called on his way out, and Sasha sighed, downed the golden drink, and moaned in exasperation, falling back onto the bed.

* * *

A.N.: Okay, so I finished _Clockwork Prince _by Cassandra Clare a couple weeks ago and I've really been wanting to quote it somewhere in the fic, so here it is! (And dont worry, that line will come up again in later chapters xD) Enjoy!


	15. Chapter 15

Percy had not been as mad as Ryan had made him sound, but he was pretty annoyed. And Sasha was prohibited from using her abilities to control water save when she was training with Percy, which would start the next day. There was no need for Sasha to stay in the infirmary any longer now that she was awake, Jonathan had said. He had also warned her that she still needed to be extra careful with her leg, now that the cast was removed, for the next couple of days. Well duh. Also, Ryan hadn't been lying about Andrea. She truly had been messaging her _non-stop_. In a way, the messages made Sasha feel slightly guilty, because most of them went on and on about how much she missed her, and Sasha immediately responded that she would meet Andrea and they could go ice skating. In camp, it was hard to tell when the seasons changed because the protective borders to keep monsters out also repelled the effects of different changes in weather, but Sasha knew it was winter and that the huge Ice-skating rink that she and Andrea and Ryan went to every year would be open because Ryan had told her they had passed by it on their double date. So Andrea and she made plans to meet there Friday night, then after they skated they would go look at the lights show they also displayed. Sasha specifically didn't tell her brothers of her plans because she did _not _need a rerun 'ambush of the demigod pains'. One thing that seemed out of place, however, was the odd absence of Nico at camp. She'd casually inquired to Percy about it, but he'd simply told her that he does it all the time and that he'd be back eventually. _'But why now? Why after he told Ryan that he wanted to talk to me?' _Unless Ryan had been acting as his usual annoying self and had simply made it up. It didn't seem too unlikely. Also, Drew kept giving her even fiercer stares than usual, and Sasha had absolutely no idea why. Despite her death glares, the daughter of Aphrodite kept her distance. In fact, Drew even avoided attending Sasha's etiquette classes when she could, and when she couldn't, she simply stayed as far away from her as possible. It was odd, but didn't really affect Sasha in any way, so she couldn't care less. Besides, she'd begun to realize that not all of Aphrodite's children were unbearably arrogant and egotistic, like Piper, for instance. She was a girl around the same age as Sasha with light brown hair and ever-changing eyes. She always did her hair into loose little braids, which Sasha thought looked nice on her and wasn't as attention-lacking as some of the things Drew did with her hair, such as doing it into a giant bow like Lady Gaga and then, just for good measure, securing it with a clip that was embroidered with rhinestones. Piper was pretty down to earth and fun to be around, and apparently, (according to Jonathan and Leo) her dad was Tristan Mclean. Which, in total honesty, was a completely embarrassing topic for Sasha, considering that she and Andrea had spent countless sleepovers fangirling over him. She decided that Leo actually had a good taste in companions, despite his off day when he decided to befriend Sasha herself. She chuckled slightly at the thought during one session of what Percy insisted referring to as 'Water bending training'. Eventually Sasha had come to discover this was solely due to his obsession with Katara from _Avatar: The Last Airbender_, which, up until the present, Sasha had dismissed as another uninteresting TV show. Recently, However, Leo and Percy slowly succeeded in getting her hooked. On her Friday scheduled to meet with Andrea, Sasha dressed for the piercing cold she knew she would experience out on the ice. Not that the hot chocolate afterwards wouldn't make it totally worth it, but still. She was sure no one noted her movements as she stole her way to the border of camp, then down Camp Half Blood hill to the cab awaiting her at the bottom. Hopping in, she shivered from the cold, anticipating her reunion with Andrea.

-  
Sasha was slightly taken aback by the sight of Andrea with Mikeal and Gabby. Okay, the fact that she was with Mikeal wasn't that shocking, but the sight of Gabby left a much harsher effect on Sasha than '_slightly taken aback'._ Gabby was another girl who went to their school (well, now Sasha's old school, seeing as she didn't technically attend to classes their anymore) with coppery blonde hair and fair skin. In the dark, snowy night, her luminescent brown-flecked green eyes appeared, to Sasha, uncertain as to whether she'd made the right choice in agreeing with Andrea and tagging along. Sasha surely thought she'd made the wrong choice, and she suddenly felt a pang of jealousy course through her being. _'That's not fair,'_ she chastised herself, _'Andrea deserves to have a friend that will be a constant for her after I so rudely disappeared without a trace, only to show up, the disappear again. Maybe not rudely, but I disappeared all the same.' _The realization that Sasha and Andrea's long-term friendship was now in question frightened Sasha, but she was determined to ignore the pesky thought for the moment and enjoy the time being. Of course, that was a tad bit difficult with Gabby constantly giving her weird looks, and the fact that throughout all the jokes someone told, everyone but Sasha would burst into laughter, and Sasha would just stand there awkwardly, completely immune to whatever had humored them. On the ice it was easier to ignore them; she was able to just skate and not have to hang out with them and think about it, but off the ice Sasha was completely miserable.  
_'I am absolutely never making plans with Andrea again.' _She thought bitterly as she watched them return from the small little shack where they sold the hot chocolate, _without _one for Sasha, although she'd waited behind and reserved a table for them. And that had been extremely difficult, mind you, with the large amount of people and such a small sum of tables.  
"Hey, I forgot my money at home, so Andrea said it would be fine if I borrowed your money. Is that okay?" Gabby asked, and Sasha smiled, gritting her teeth, and nodded.  
_'Yay. I go through _all this _and yet I don't get my hot chocolate _or _my money! And just who on Earth said I would be okay with that!? She wants hot chocolate so much you get it for her! I don't even _like _the stupid girl! Not to mention that you know that!'_ Sasha continued her mental rant, fully knowledgeable that her discontent was obviously plastered on her face, although none of the trio seemed to notice it.  
_'And just where does she get off inviting them without even telling me! I thought it was just going to be the two of us and suddenly tweedle-dee and tweedle-_dumb _tag along?!_'  
Someone pulled up a chair next to her and a pale hand set a cup of hot chocolate in front of Sasha on the table.  
"Sorry I'm late," the voice said, hugging her with one and pulling the chair so he could sit next to her with the other. Mikeal raised an eyebrow at the newcomer, Gabby gawked, and Andrea glared.  
"Nico?" She asked, her tone hateful and shocked.


	16. Chapter 16

Nico smiled wryly.  
"Nice to see you too, Andrea. Mikeal. And….who's this?" He said, gesturing to Gabby.  
"This is Gabby." Andrea said through clenched teeth, and Nico seemed to take pleasure in the fact that Andrea was obviously seething with irritation at Nico's appearance.  
"You didn't tell me you were inviting _him_," she spat to Sasha, jutting her chin towards Nico in disgust, as if he were a dead roach.  
"And I doubt you told Sasha about your invitation to Gabby, am I correct? In fact, I doubt you even told her Mikeal was coming." Nico said, his tone relaxed, as he took a sip of his drink. Sasha struggled to contain the smile threatening to form. _'But why is he being so nice?'_ She wondered, taking a sip of the chocolate drink Nico had brought her. _'And, more importantly, why is he even here?' _The hot beverage warmed her up instantly, making her nerves tingle. She watched silently, just as Mikeal and Gabby did, as Andrea and Nico continued to bicker.  
"That isn't even any of _your _business, you're just an annoying freak who can't seem to leave us alone. And besides, Mikeal's my boyfriend, and Gabby's a girl bud. You, on the other hand, have no right to be here." Andrea argued, and Nico leaned back in his chair, casually throwing an arm around Sasha.  
"Actually, I'm Sasha's boyfriend," Nico said, his tone even. Sasha choked on her drink and broke out into a mad coughing fit. Nico leaned into her ear and whispered "Play along, trust me." Sasha turned to glare at him but said nothing as he continued on, "but not that I'd expect you to know that, since all you ever talk about to Sasha is yourself and she probably never has the chance to get a word in edgewise." Nico said, and Mikeal stifled a laugh. Andrea's eyes were tinged red, and Sasha sensed an explosion erupting quite soon. The other girl turned to look at Sasha, her eyes doubtful.  
"You're dating?" She asked, her tone soft. Sasha, still feeling numb from what Nico had just claimed, simply nodded and looked down at her clasped, gloved hands, in a desperate attempt to keep the red in her cheeks hidden. Gabby stood.  
"Well, this was…..fun. I guess I'll see you guys around." She said, and she began to walk away.  
"Gabby—" Andrea began, but the other girl turned to smile slightly at her.  
"I'll talk to you later Andy, seems like you guys have a lot to talk about." With that Gabby was lost in the crowd of people, and Sasha wasn't all too disappointed to see her go.  
Andrea whirled to glare murderously at Nico.  
"You've got some nerve." She spat at him, and he burst into laughter.  
"Why? 'Cause I'm not blind?"  
Mikeal raised an eyebrow. "What the hell does he mean?" He asked, turned to Sasha. She shrugged.  
"I've absolutely no idea."  
Nico sneered. "Please. Think about it. She brought Mikeal and Gabby without even telling Sasha to piss her off. She's trying to rub it in her face, though I don't know why she thinks Sasha would care. She's totally been neglecting Sasha this entire time, and she could so see Sasha was miserable. She's not _that _dense. Oh and really, that whole hot chocolate thing was just a bit too much. Okay, you wanted to piss her off, but this hot chocolate is _really _good." Nico said, sipping his drink.  
Andrea just continued to glare murderously at Nico.  
"Well, she invited _you_."  
"Ha! Like Sasha would have ever invited me. It was quite the opposite, really. I was following her, and I saw how you acted to her, and I decided to join the party and switch things up a bit. It was quite fun. That look on your face? Priceless." He smiled gleefully, and Sasha sighed.  
"Okay, I'm sick of sitting here and having you two talk about me as if I can't speak for myself, which I _can_, thank you very much." She said, looking pointedly at Nico, who shrugged his shoulders in surrender, leaning further back into his chair to watch what happened next. Sasha took a deep breath and turned to Andrea. Her best friend was still glaring at Nico, and Sasha knew that what he'd suspected had been right. She sighed.  
"Why?" She asked simply, and Andrea turned to face her, her expression softening momentarily before hardening with anger.  
"Well why do you think? This guy shows up and you suddenly disappear? Then you finally come back, just to disappear again?! What gives? And everywhere you go he follows you now, like some stupid little lapdog," Nico opened his mouth to protest, but Sasha shot him a warning look and he shut his mouth.  
"and I'm supposed to just sit on stand-by? For whenever you _feel _like gracing me with your presence?! And your messages are so short, like you're keeping something from me, something _huge_, and you don't even tell me? And I'm supposed to take it all? How is that really being a best friend?" Andrea continued.  
Sasha looked down, guilty. _'But what am I supposed to do?! It's not like I can just tell her 'Well hey, you know, my dad's like the Greek God of the ocean, so I go to this camp and train to kill monsters who want me roasted on a stake!' Yeah, right. Pfft, what am I thinking? Even if I _did _tell her they would just use the mist to control her mind so she'd forget. And she'd just be upset all over again. Gods, what do I do?'_  
She sighed. "I'm sorry…" She knew it was lame, but what _else _was she supposed to say? Andrea stood, taking her jacket up from the back of her seat.  
"Yeah? Well I'm sorry too." And she and Mikeal were gone, leaving Sasha to stare dejectedly at her empty cup with Nico awkwardly shifting in his seat.

-  
"Gods, I hate mortals." Sasha said for what seemed like the thousandth time in just the car ride back to camp. Nico sighed, his breath fogging up the window. He turned to look at her, his face emotionless. "You get used to them eventually. It's not their fault they're so dense." He turned back to his window, and Sasha sighed in the uncomfortable silence, fully aware of what she had to say to him to patch things up, but not truly wanting to.  
"I'm sorry, you know, for what I said to you before." She said awkwardly, playing with her gloves nervously. He turned to look at her, and out of the corner of her eyes Sasha could see he was startled. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.  
"And thank you. For standing up for me. I mean, I know I should be mad because you were like following me, but….thanks."  
She said it all quickly so all the words were strung together and sounded like one big, mega word. She winced at how stupid she sounded and turned to gaze out the opposite window, where she noticed it had begun to rain outside. For a few minutes Nico was silent, then Sasha heard him chuckle.  
"I figured I should've apologized, but I guess you just excused me from having to, so I'm just gonna let it go."  
Sasha's mouth cracked into a smile. "You can still apologize." She said, and she turned to see him shrug. "Naw, I'm good."

She rolled her eyes. "So there's no chance that you've matured at all in this time frame when we didn't talk?" She asked, and he laughed and shook his head. Suppressing a smile, she turned to look at the rain.  
"Aren't you curious as to why I've been away from camp?" He asked cockily, and Sasha turned to him, eyebrow raised.  
"I dunno. Am I?" She challenged, and he nodded.  
"Well duh." He said, like it was an obvious fact. Laughing, Sasha nodded her head, motioning for him to tell her why he had been absent.  
"I needed to get away from camp. There are some very annoying girls there, did you know?" He said jokingly, and Sasha was shocked momentarily, but quickly recovered and smirked.  
"They must have been very happy you were gone" she said, and he nodded sincerely, turning to look out the window.  
"I'm sure they were."  
Confused, and slightly irritated that he'd just called her annoying to her face, Sasha shrugged and turned to look down at her phone. She knew it was stupid, but she kept hoping Andrea would message her back; forgive her. But she knew it was a hopeless request-after all, Sasha couldn't really say she blamed Andrea for her behavior. The girl had always been headstrong and independent, and she hated feeling neglected or unimportant, which was exactly how Sasha knew she was probably making her feel. She glanced wistfully at her phone before sighing and tossing it on the empty set between her and Nico. It hit the seat with a soft 'thump' and Nico turned to pick it up, making a gesture as if to ask Sasha if he could see it. She shrugged and watched as he unlocked the phone and began to tap the screen at random intervals. Once he was obviously pleased, he placed the phone back on the chair where it had been before. Not wanting to make it seem like she really cared what he did, she neglected the urge to pick it up and simply turned to once again gaze out the window as the rain tapped against it softly.

-  
_ Sasha was sitting at a restaurant, across from a boy with brown hair and golden eyes. He wasn't what Sasha would define as 'cute'; he was too buff, as if he'd wrestled a killer whale and won. In fact, he was slightly intimidating, and Sasha shifted in her seat nervously.  
"What are you going to have to drink?" He asked her, smiling, and she realized with a horrified shock that she was on a date. Her mouth felt incredibly dry, but she didn't want to drink anything that this person offered her. A waitress came up to their small little booth, and Sasha's eyes widened at the sight of her. She had yellow slits for eyes, like cats do, and her mouth was a thin line like a snake's. her hair was straight and jet black and fell down her back all the way to her knees. She was dressed in a black sequined cocktail dress and seven inch black pumps. The most horrifying part if her appearance, however, was her skin itself. It was a bright red, the same shade as blood. The boy and the waitress turned to Sasha expectantly and she shivered under their predatory gazes.  
"Let's see your friends find you here, little niece." The boy said, and Sasha barely processed what he was saying. Her attention was turned down to her hands, where her nails were elongating and the color began to change until her fingernails were long, golden claws. The boy smiled, as if pleased by her horrific new change. He smiled at her, his laughter making Sasha shudder. That laughter, she _knew _that laughter. With a terrifying jolt, her eyes widened with realization.  
"Kronos" she hissed, the name rolling off her mouth like lava, it's pronunciation making Sasha's voice sound somewhat evil. The boy just raised an eyebrow at her in confusion.  
"Beg your pardon?" He asked, his voice suddenly different, less imposing. His eyes changes color too. The gold slowly turned to hazel, from hazel to a light caramel, then a light brown. He stared at her in confusion, and Sasha didn't know what to tell him. _It's not like you can just go around telling people 'oh yeah, you were just possessed by Kronos, the evil Titan! Want some pie?'_ She thought, but she no longer worried of answering the boy. In one fluid movement, the waitress had her teeth bared to show off fangs Sasha hadn't been able to notice before and with a startled scream from Sasha, the demon lunged._

-  
Sasha awoke with a start, clenching her bedcovers around her into tight fists and breathing heavily. She looked around to see her cabin empty and sighed, falling back on her bed, exhausted.  
"Hey" a voice said from across the room, and Sasha sat up. Nico stood in the now open doorway, his mouth turned up into a half smile.  
"You weren't there a second ago."  
"You weren't _awake_ a second ago, and it's two in the afternoon." He pointed out, most unhelpfully, and Sasha moaned.  
"Wouldn't kill you to knock"  
"Hey I heard screaming. How should I have known you were just having nightmares about that stupid mortal at two p.m.?"  
Sasha slid out of bed, yawning.  
"I wasn't dreaming about _Andrea_" she said, irritated, and Nico held his hands up in surrender.  
"So what do you have now?" He asked, and her eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully.  
"What's today?" She asked, as every day of the week had its own different schedule. Nico laughed.  
"Still asleep? It's Saturday, bed head."  
"Okay, well, I don't have a set schedule on Saturdays, so I can do whatever I want."  
"How about heading over to etiquette?"  
Sasha laughed bitterly. "With the Aphrodite cabin? Pass, thanks." _'You wanna go flirt with your girlfriend, go on your own, dude.' _she thought, slightly irritated with the son of Hades' request. It wasn't like he didn't know she hated his girlfriend-it was common knowledge.  
"Come on, you owe me."  
Sasha, who was rummaging through her shirt drawer, balled one up and tossed it at him.  
"I do _not_," she said, smiling. "You defending me yesterday was your own choice. And it was a choice you wouldn't have had to make had you not followed me in the first place." He rolled his eyes and tossed the shirt back at her, laughing.  
"It's not like I regret it." He said, and she quickly turned to make it seem as if she had continued to search for a shirt as her cheeks reddened. She eventually decided on a red long sleeve shirt and a navy blue hoodie with her old school's emblem embroidered on the front. She turned around to see Nico still occupying the cabin, but he had migrated from the doorway to Percy's bed. With an eye roll, she made her way to the bathroom and quickly changed, emerging to find Nico slowly sifting through her photos, a slightly amused expression on his face. She suddenly thought of finding the picture of her and Andrea hidden in his drawer but shrugged it off immediately. She walked over to sit beside him on the bed and he held a picture up to her. She took it quizzically and was shocked by what she saw. This was a picture of when Sasha and Ryan had gone to the movies with Nico; when she had first been attacked. She was horribly bruised; she had a blood pouring down one side of her head, her arm had an ugly, deep cut running along its length, and her clothes were burnt and torn. _'That's so weird. I don't remember there being fire. Actually, I barely remember anything from that afternoon.'_ She continued to study the picture—Ryan stood off to the side of the shot, blood pooling around him, his skin a sickly pallor in the dim lighting of the theatre. Or maybe just from the blood loss. The she-demon was directly face-to-face with Sasha, teeth bared, hair aflame, and irises licks of orange. Finally, Sasha truly focused on herself. On a regular day, before Sasha discovered that she and her brother were both half Greek God, she would have taken one look at the girl in this picture and immediately dismissed it as _not _herself. Now, looking at the picture, she just felt a strange sense of swelling emotions. She couldn't describe it if she tried—there were too many, all jumbled and mixed to the point where there was no making any sense of any of it. Most were foreign to her: pride, for instance. In the photo Sasha stood only a few inches from the demon, Nico's black sword gripped so firmly in her hand her knuckles were white. Her face betrayed an odd mix of emotions she'd never assumed would be plastered to her face. Anger, bravery, pride; and then some she was totally expecting to see: vulnerability, fear, and inferiority. And the one that shocked Sasha the most—a determined, protective look, as if she would die for what she believed in. And she realized that in that moment, she had been very close to death. She turned to look over at Nico—he was studying her expression intently, and she wondered why he seemed so worried about what she would say. Out of all the questions swimming through her mind, the one she chose to ask was:  
"You seriously had the time to take this picture while we were being attacked?"


	17. Chapter 17

Nico's face slowly softened to startled confusion, then his lips quirked up at the corners into a smile, then he began to full out laugh. Sasha failed to see the humor in the fact that he'd taken a picture of her while she'd nearly had her blood drained by a donkey automaton vampire. He eventually caught sight of her annoyed, expectant expression and coughed to hide his laughter, forcing his mouth into a straight line. He raised an eyebrow at her.  
"That's it? No, uh, hate? Regret? Anger? No negative emotions? Just _that_?" He asked, and Sasha stared at him.  
"So you want me to be resentful towards my meeting you? That's what you're saying?"  
"Yes. Well, no, but yes. Kinda. Look, not the 'meeting me' part, because, I mean, no one could regret that—"  
"Well, aren't you modest?"  
"—and I'm sure even _Andrea _savors that memory—"  
"Ha! Now that I _highly _doubt to be true."  
"—but I meant, like, don't you regret realizing your whole life was a joke? That it wasn't really anything but…..a mask, hiding what life really is?"  
Sasha sighed. "Well, yeah. I mean, of course I do. But it's better to know the truth than to believe in a lie."  
Nico shrugged. "You're just more…..relaxed, about all this than I ever expected anyone to be."  
Sasha looked down at the picture. "I wouldn't have any one to rely on even if I did go crazy. You've seen Ryan—he's an idiot."  
"You could rely on me." Nico said, and Sasha resisted the urge to look up at him, fully aware that if she did, he'd get a full view of the heat in her cheeks.  
"You never did answer my question."  
"What?"  
"Yeah. How in the name of the lethe could you even think of taking a picture when I could have died at any given moment?"  
"I didn't take the picture, Sasha."  
"I'm not stupid you know. I am _holding _the picture in my hand. It's not like—"  
"_I didn't take the picture_. Sheesh. It's a screenshot of the surveillance cameras from that day. Had you been a mortal, the mist would have manipulated your mind so you saw yourself simply yelling at a worker while your brother was asleep in one of the side chairs."  
"Okay, well, why'd you go back to get it?"  
Nico shrugged. "I felt like it."  
Sasha's cheeks grew even redder. "I can see."

-  
"So remind me again just _why _I'm coming to an etiquette session with you?" Sasha asked as she followed Nico towards the Aphrodite cabin, and he turned around to look at her.  
"I _told _you, you owe me."  
Sasha gave an exasperated sigh. "_I do not owe you_" She clarified, and he rolled his eyes.  
"Whatever."  
"I just don't understand why you're so anxious for me to watch you flirt with your girlfriend."  
"Oh you'll see. There'll be much less flirting than you think."  
"I'm now officially scared to come." She said cautiously, and he rolled his eyes.  
"Oh, just shut up and come on."  
She shrugged and followed him as he ascended the steps of the Aphrodite cabin and knocked on the door. A younger girl Sasha knew to be Lacy answered, smiling to reveal her pink braces when she saw Sasha and Nico.  
"Hey guys, are you looking for Drew?" She asked, and Sasha rolled her eyes.  
"Something like that." She muttered, and Nico nodded. Lacy told them to wait just a second and disappeared back beyond view to go retrieve the head of her cabin. A few minutes later Drew emerged, Gucci scent trailing behind her and all. She gave a batlike screetch and threw her arms around Nico, not even bothering to acknowledge Sasha. Not as if she had expected her to—the daughter of Aphrodite had been blocking her out recently, which she figured was actually the best thing to keep Sasha from , life was much more enjoyable when that girl was not a part of it. Turning to Nico, she saw that he wore a slightly irritated face and was awkwardly enduring Drew's hug. He kept his hands in firm fists by his sides.  
"Nikky? What's wrong?" She asked, and Sasha had to fight hard to keep her expression neutral. _'Nikky?'_ She thought, revolted that Nico even allowed Drew to call him that.  
Nico separated himself from Drew, an odd look on his face.  
"First, _stop calling me Nikky. _Next, uh…..wanna see a magic trick?" He asked, and Drew rolled her eyes.  
"Sure sweetie," She said in the tone one might use with an annoying child. This didn't help improve Nico's mood with her, and he smiled widely.  
"Poof! You're single." He said triumphantly, and Drew stared at him, shocked. Sasha gawked at him too. It was one thing to break up with someone, but she found the way he'd gone about it incredibly rude, even if it _was _Drew. However, the girl gathered her senses pretty quickly.  
"Alright, then go away." She said, simply, and for the first time, Sasha actually couldn't detect any hate in her voice. Maybe she really didn't care.  
"Gladly." Nico said, and he walked off, Sasha uneasily trailing behind him.

-  
"You've been awfully quiet." Nico noted, after yet another victory against Sasha. He was winning easily, too, since Sasha wasn't as focused as usual. If she truly wished it, she could have at least _stood a chance_ against him. Maybe even had him beat a couple times. But that wasn't really what was happening, since her sword just kept flying around the training grounds like crazy. She'd even managed (and this was totally beyond her understanding) to actually swing at Nico and instead cut her own arm.  
"I don't have anything to say," she replied simply.  
"Don't tell me you're actually upset about me breaking up with Drew." He said in disbelief and Sasha shook her head.  
"I don't care that you broke up with her, I just found your whole 'magic trick' joke cruel." She said, and Nico stared at her incredulously.  
_"She's cruel!"_ He exclaimed, and Sasha jumped slightly at his outburst.  
"Do you have any idea why we even _started_ dating in the first place?" He asked, throwing his hands up in exasperation. '_Well...no'_ she thought, and when she remained silent, Nico sighed.  
"Anyone ever been smart enough to tell you she can control people by saying whatever the hell she wants? I assumed you'd be smart enough to figure it out from there." He said, and suddenly it dawned upon Sasha. Drew was manipulating the relationship. _'But...does that mean that he never liked her?'  
_"Oh." She said simply.  
"Did you seriously have such little faith in me to believe that I would actually _willingly_ date that stupid, shallow, irrelevant bitch?"  
He asked, his tone harsh, and Sasha didn't dare turn to look at him.  
"And every time she treated you like shit, do you really think that made me like her any _more?!_ Not even the gods know how much I absolutely loathe that girl!" He exclaimed, and out of the corner of her eyes Sasha saw him realize what he'd said he'd accidentally said aloud, and he turned to grab her fallen sword and held it out to her. She took it and turned to look at him, but he had his head down and wouldn't turn to look up at her. They sparred for a couple more hours in silence, and Sasha defeated him every time.

-  
By lunch time the next day, it was old news that Nico and Drew had split up and Drew was already dating someone else. It was some guy in the Hecate cabin, and all Sasha knew of him was that his name was Stefan. At breakfast, Percy had singled him out as a curly haired blonde with orange eyes and a cheeky smile. His eyes were originally startling to Sasha, but Annabeth said that Hecate's eyes always changed to the most bizarre colors, and her children's looks betrayed what color her eyes had been when she'd sired the child. That explained one girl that caught Sasha looking over and winked at her with magenta eyes. Nico seemed to be avoiding Sasha again (what else was new) and Sasha found herself hanging out with Jonathan as he and his brother, a sandy haired Garrett, challenged each other to see who was the better archer. Garrett won, and none too soon did Leo and Nico show up to mock their friend for his defeat. Eventually Garrett left, and it was just the four of them. They walked over to the beach, joking and laughing, as the sun set. Sasha sat in the sand with the three boys and watched as the sky was painted with brilliant shades of orange, pink, fiery reds, brilliant purples and yellow directly surrounding the sun.  
"Okay," Jonathan said, clapping his hands together and staring evilly at his friends, "truth or dare."  
"Ha ha! Yes. Okay, I'll ask first." Leo said, and Nico rolled his eyes, lying on his back and placing his hands under his head.  
"I refuse to partake in this game, so it's just going to be you three."  
"Wimp" Jonathan teased, and Nico shrugged.  
"Fine, whatever. Who cares whether he plays or not. I just need to ask Sasha" Leo said, turning to smile mischievously at Sasha, who shifted nervously where she sat.  
"Uh, I suddenly have the oddest feeling that I shouldn't play either." She said, and Jonathan snickered.  
"Ohh no, you're not backing out like your stupid boyfriend." Leo scolded, and Sasha raised an eyebrow at Nico, who was glaring murderously at the son of Hephaestus. _'What is going on!?'_  
"Alright, _fine,_" Sasha said, fully aware that she was simply saving herself time by not resisting. When Leo wanted something, hell, everybody get _out of his way._ The curly haired boy smiled triumphantly at Sasha, whom immediately regretted agreeing. _'It's not too late to drown him'_ she thought, but dismissed the thought right away, remembering what had happened the last time.  
"Truth or dare." Jonathan said.  
"Truth."  
"Has Nico asked you out yet?" Leo practically jumped out of the sand asking the question, and Sasha was silently awed momentarily before shaking her head, much to the displeasure of Leo and Jonathan.  
"Damn you man, you said by the end of this week!" Leo said, glaring at the Son of Hades.  
"Leo, there are some times, like now, when you need to learn that even if someone would die for you, if you don't know when to _shut the hell up_, they will kill you." Nico said, and Sasha refused to look at any of three boys, instead staring out over the pitch-black horizon.  
"Ha! Told you Leo, pay up." Jonathan said, and Leo rolled his eyes.  
"You two seriously bet whether I'd ask her or not?" Nico asked, and Sasha rolled her eyes.  
"_Yes,_" Leo hissed, "and now I owe this idiot over here my allowance for the next month, all because I had faith in you. Thanks a lot, Nico."  
"Hey guys, what's going on over there?" Jonathan asked, pointing towards camp. Sasha heard distant shouting, and light suddenly flared up all around camp. A figure was running up to them, and as it neared, Sasha was able to identify Percy.  
"Jonathan, Nico, Leo, go meet Chiron at the Big House, it's urgent."  
Jonathan flicked his wrist and suddenly wielded a bow and a sheath of arrows wrapped around his arm. Leo reached into his toolbelt and pulled out a huge hammer, and Nico unsheathed one of his infamous black blades. Sasha stared at her brother.  
"What about me?"  
Percy gave her a worried glance then shook his head.  
"You go back to the cabin and stay as far away from the Big House as possible."  
"But—"  
"_Sasha_. I'm not _asking you if you want to_." He said, his voice filled with authority, and Sasha raised an eyebrow.  
"Ryan'll be there too, if it makes you feel any better." He said, and she rolled her eyes.  
"How is that supposed to make me feel any—"  
"Oh gods above," Percy sighed, agitated, "Nico, you, Jonathan, and Leo, tell Chiron I'll meet you there. Since, apparently, Sasha will need an escort to make sure she _goes _and _stays _at the cabin." Percy said, and Nico nodded, the three boys disappearing off towards the Big House.  
"I do _not need an escort._" Sasha hissed as Percy grabbed her elbow and began steering her toward cabin three.  
"Based on your expression, I kind of think you do."  
"I'm not a kid"  
"You're acting like one."  
"Am not."  
"Are too"  
"_Am not_"  
Percy raised an eyebrow at her, and Sasha slouched, defeated. He took her to the cabin and watched as she climbed the steps, then closed the door behind her. Sasha went to go sit on her bed and heard a lock _tick_, and she widened her eyes.  
"_Percy!_" She hissed, falling back on the bed. _'Well there goes _that _idea,_' She looked around, _'and where's Ryan?'_ She sighed and turned to reach for her book. Somehow, however, she imagined it wouldn't be able to distract her. Obviously _something _was going on, and Sasha desperately wanted to know what it was. She gazed around the cabin until her eyes rested on the fountain in the corner. Ryan, at that moment, came out of the bathroom, his hair wet from a shower.  
"So Percy locked you in here too?"  
"Yeah. Idiot." Sasha mumbled, turning to look at the fountain.  
"Are we going to IM the meeting?" Ryan asked, and Sasha nodded, turning to smile impishly at her twin.  
"Well what _else _did you expect we do?"

* * *

A.N. Have I ever told you guys how much I love you? Every time someone reviews, or follows, or faves, it makes me feel so fuzzy and warm inside. So thank you guys, so much. You have absolutely no idea how much you mean to me. Thank you!


	18. Chapter 18

"Oh Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show me Chiron, at the Big House." Sasha said, and the image in the mist altered and shifted as she tossed in the golden drachma. She could see the rec room in the big house, everyone gathered around a ping-pong table. Leo, Nico, Jonathan, Garrett, Annabeth, Percy, Piper, and several other campers. And along with them…  
"Uhm, why is _Drew _allowed in there and I'm not?" Sasha asked indignantly, and Ryan snickered.  
"'Cause you're a _child_" Ryan teased, and Sasha flicked his ear.  
"_Shut up. _If you and your _big head _have forgotten, I'm older than you. Idiot." She shot, and he rolled his eyes.  
"_Two minutes!_ You are _**two minutes **__older than me!_" He hissed, and she glared at her twin.  
"Whatever."  
"_Shhhh! _Both of you. Or the rest of them will hear you!" someone said through the IM, and the two bickering siblings turned to see Nico glaring at them. He was seated on the right side of Chiron, and had apparently been able to notice Sasha and Ryan before him, or anyone else.  
"Nico," Sasha whispered, "you don't mind us spying on the meeting?"  
Nico shrugged. "Naw, It's stupid you guys aren't allowed to be here. Hey Ryan." He said, nodding to Sasha's brother. He returned the nod.  
"Sup."  
"Shh, it's starting," Jonathan hissed, and Sasha realized that he knew they were watching in too. She smiled gratefully to the son of Apollo, who grinned back to her before turning to face Chiron, along with everyone else at the table.  
"Demigods, I've gathered you all here so urgently due to the fact that, well, I'll allow Garrett to explain." Chiron said, motioning for Jonathan's brother to stand and speak. Garrett stood, a fierce expression on his face.  
"We discovered a boy outside the borders of camp earlier. Not a normal boy, either. He could see through the mist, and he was trying to get in. We don't know what to make of him, but we're pretty sure that he's a demigod." Garrett gestured to the other corner of the room, where one of Jonathan's and his brothers stood. The son of Apollo had blonde hair and emerald eyes, and he seemed to be struggling to keep an object restrained to a chair in front of him. The boy in the chair's head was down, so Sasha couldn't get a clear view of his face. He was thin, unbelievably so, as if he hadn't had a good meal in years. Sasha immediately pitied him. She doubted that he could be so dangerous that he had to be kept bound in such a weak state, and she suspected that the restraints were harming him. She resisted the urge to tell everyone to release him, knowing that if she uttered one peep someone would cut off the connection. She turned to look at Nico at the edge of the picture, and he looked just as annoyed as Sasha felt.  
"Nico," she whispered, and the son of Hades turned to look at her, "how can they keep him like this?" She asked, and Ryan nodded.  
"Isn't that a bit…um….abusive? The kid looks close to death to me." Ryan said.  
"I know. There must be some reason they have him bound so tightly, or else Chiron wouldn't allow them to do this. Hell, Garrett himself wouldn't do this." Nico whispered, shaking his head. He turned to look back at the boy in the corner, just as Sasha and her brother did.  
"Child, raise your head." Chiron ordered, and the boy in the chair growled.  
"Oh for the love of Zeus," Clarisse muttered, "I'll _make _the twerp lift his head." The boy in the chair remained in the same position, unmoved.  
"Let me go. Please. I swear I won't come back, and I'll leave you alone. I was only looking for shelter from the Gods' wrath. Please." He croaked, his voice hoarse. For reasons unknown to Sasha, the voice made her heart stop with fear. She struggled to recall why it might make her react so strongly, but her mind couldn't grasp why.  
"Who are you?" Annabeth asked, her eyebrows furrowed.  
"I'm the offspring of an immortal, just like the rest of you. It's funny, though. None of _you _seem to be restrained." He spat, still not looking up.  
"None of _us _weren't allowed inside camp. Who sired you?" Annabeth questioned, and the boy sneered.  
"You act as if I'd really tell you. After you've chained me up? Please. You people were supposed to protect demigods, and yet I'm bound to a chair. As if I'd trust _you_."  
"If you cooperate with us, boy, we will cooperate with you." Chiron said diplomatically, and the boy laughed bitterly, his form shaking with the effort.  
"Chiron, this is ridiculous. This boy looks way too powerless to pose any threat to us anyways." Percy said, obviously uncomfortable with the boy's restraints as well.  
"No, Seaweed Brain. The bonds are totally necessary." Annabeth said, glaring at the boy. "You know I heard somebody nearly toppled Olympus recently, and everyone wants his head on a stake. Do you have any idea who might have been responsible for _that_?" The daughter of Athena shot accusingly at the boy, who finally raised his head, fear in his eyes. Sasha froze, numb with the realization of who that boy was.  
"Someone almost toppled _Olympus?_" He asked, horrified. Annabeth nodded sternly, continuing to glower at the boy. He seemed to slump down in his chair with absolute horror.  
"I don't know. I don't know I swear." He said, his voice shaking, his eyes darting around the room.  
"Kill him." Sasha whispered, her eyes wide with fear. Nico, her brother, and Jonathan all turned to her, confused.  
"He looks completely innocent and harmless to me," Jonathan whispered, and Sasha shook her head violently.  
"Chiron, I think we should take off the bonds." Percy recommended, and Garrett shrugged, motioning to his brother to remove the bonds. The son of Apollo brought out a knife and cut through the swords easily, catching the boy in the chair as he fell.  
"No. Tie him back up." Sasha said, and Jonathan shot her a look telling her to shut up. She bit hardly on her bottom lip but stayed silent. The boy balanced himself eventually, so he was standing, leaning against the ping-pong table. He smiled viciously at the crowd of demigods gathered, and immediately a sword was pointed at his throat. Annabeth glowered at him from the other end of the blade.  
"There. Now it's time for you to start answering some questions, got it?" She said, and the boy nodded, smiling at her, a slightly amused smile plastered to his face.  
"Who are you, and what do you want?"  
"My name is Charbel Chelala. I stumbled upon your camp by accident the first time I came across it, but now I seek refuge."  
Percy raised an eyebrow and tilted his chin up. "When did you first come across camp?"  
"Uh….what's today?" the boy asked, concentration plastered on his face, eyebrows furrowed.  
"Monday." Percy said, and Charbel rolled his eyes.  
"Gee, that's extremely helpful, considering that it's Monday _every week._" He replied sarcastically, and Percy's mouth straightened into a thin line.  
"December 13." Annabeth said, and Charbel nodded.  
"Year?"  
"Excuse me?"  
"What _year _is it?"  
"That's odd. Why don't you know what year it is?"  
"Why don't you tell me?"  
"Because I don't trust you."  
"Then I won't tell you anything."  
Annabeth gave out an indignant cry of frustration and slammed her knife into the table. Clarisse stood up and grabbed Charbel by his shirt and lifted him up so he was dangling a few inches off the ground.  
"Listen here maggot, we don't care about your comfort. _When did you first come to camp_?" She growled, and the boy sneered.  
"July 7, 2017." He responded, and everyone grew silent.  
"My birthday." Ryan whispered, and Nico's head whipped so he was looking at the two twins through the IM, startled.  
"He first discovered camp on you and Sasha's _birthday_?" He asked, startled, and Sasha nodded numbly.  
"That's impossible," Leo said to Chiron, "We're in the year 2012, and there's no way that moron could have built a time machine before me!"  
"But wait, you guys, that's Sasha's and Ryan's birthday." Nico informed the council, and Percy raised an eyebrow.  
"July 7?"  
"Yeah. But doesn't that seem slightly off? Like, what is this kid planning?" Nico accused, glaring at Charbel.  
"_This kid_," the boy shot, "happens to be older than you, son of Hades, so watch your mouth. And as for my plan, I just want to get as far away from all you stupid, self-conceited half-wits as soon as I possibly can."  
"How'd you know his parentage?" Travis, a son of Hermes who had an identical twin brother, asked.  
"He's wearing a shirt with a dancing skeleton on it. His sense of humor is just as off as his father's." The boy muttered, and Nico glared at him.  
"How could you know my dad?"  
"Please. He kidnapped a woman and forced her to marry him. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years you did the same."  
"I'm officially going to kill him." Nico growled, standing up from his chair. Jonathan grabbed a hold of one of his arms to restrain him, but struggled greatly with the task.  
"Nico—not—worth it!"  
Sasha blushed, strangely embarrassed by the idea of Nico getting married. She swore she could see his cheeks redden, but it might have simply been distortion in the connection. Nico sat back down in his seat, and Sasha could see him glowering at Charbel through locks of his silky black hair.  
"How could you possibly have created a time machine _before me_?" Leo asked, incredulous, and Charbel turned to him.  
"It wasn't a _time machine_, idiot."  
"Well what else could it have been?!"  
"Oh you're all hopelessly stupid. I'm the son of _KRONOS._"


	19. Chapter 19

Silence. Nico, Jonathan, and Ryan turned to stare at Sasha, and she cringed slightly.  
"I told you not to let him go," She said defensively, and at this point she didn't care if the rest of the council heard her.  
"Well you failed to mention that he was the _son of Kronos,_" Jonathan snapped, and Sasha turned to him.  
"I didn't know _that,_ well, not for _sure_, but I knew that he was someone to keep bound up." She said, the defensive note in her voice still present. Leo turned to look over, confused, and when he saw Sasha he smiled and waved.  
"If I were you I'd cut the connection before Percy finds out you've been eaves dropping." Leo warned, and Sasha rolled her eyes.  
"I'm not scared of Hot Shot Hero of Olympus." Sasha said indignantly.  
"Really?" Percy asked from across the room, "because you should be."  
"Hey Perce!" Ryan said, grinning, "Uhm, yeah, you see, this was all Sasha's fault, and—"  
"Shut up Ryan," Percy and Sasha sighed simultaneously, and the youngest child of Poseidon scowled.  
"Sasha I told you to stay in the cabin," Percy said, and Sasha shrugged.  
"Technically, I haven't left the cabin." She argued, and Percy opened his mouth to respond, but Clarisse cut him off.  
"_Technically _you two can bicker later. For now we need to worry about this titan scum." She said, and Percy turned to glare at his sister once more before returning his gaze to the boy who was now slumped against the pin pong table, unconscious.  
"I think we should banish him and be done with it," Piper said, "It's not worth the risk to keep him here. If the gods want his head, then they'll plow through camp to get him."  
"I find that keeping him may very well be useful to us too, however," argued one of Annabeth's brothers, Malcom. "he might be able to tell us things we wouldn't be able to know otherwise, and once we receive the information we need, we dispose of him."  
"_I _agree with Piper. This kid's too dangerous." Sasha spoke up, and Percy turned to glare at her.  
"Your opinion doesn't count, since you aren't even a part of the council in the first place," he said, and Sasha's eyes narrowed at her brother, about to respond, when Nico cut her off.  
"I agree with Piper too. If it's the future you want to know about so badly, well we have an oracle, and I bet Leo could build a time machine anyways."  
Annabeth's eyes lit up. "That's perfect. Why don't we just ask Rachel what to do about him?"  
"You know that she can't control what she sees," Percy said, and Annabeth shrugged.  
"I know. She usually gives prophecies about things of importance. I believe that a son of the lord of the titans is important, don't you? I mean, for one thing, h_ow on Earth _did he age so quickly? He should be a chubby, ignorant two year old who drools and cries—,"  
"Uhm, when you first met me, you told me I drool," Percy cut in, annoyed.  
"—but instead he looks around Sasha's and Ryan's age. He even said that he's older than Nico, but I don't understand how that's possible." She said, and Chiron sighed.  
"Our oracle, as you all know, is not even here at camp at the moment. She's off at her prep school until the end of this term. If we are even to discuss this matter with her, it shall have to wait a few more weeks." Chiron said, and Piper shrugged.  
"I vote against keeping him here. I think that, like Nico, if we want to know about the future, there are other resources. This boy seems too…..unpredictable. We can't know whether he's even telling us the truth or not about simply seeking refuge." She said, and Annabeth nodded.  
"Percy?" She asked her boyfriend, and he turned to look at Sasha and Ryan through the IM.  
"I vote he leaves." He replied, turning to look at the unconscious boy.  
"I say we let the worm stay," Clarisse said, "we shouldn't fear one measly little punk. It's the whole camp against one kid, after all. And if we're so worried about him doing something to screw us over, we can keep watches on him until Red head gets here. Then we can decide what to do."  
After everyone voted, the outcome was to have him stay in the Big House, under 24-hour surveillance, until Rachel arrived. Sasha absolutely hated that idea, and was not in the least bit ready to argue when Percy said he didn't want neither she nor Ryan to partake in guarding him. Sasha was ready to stay as far away from the Big House for the next few weeks as possible. Sasha swiped her hand through the connection as the meeting adjourned, and she and Ryan began to get ready for bed. Percy walked in once Sasha was changed and her teeth were brushed, and he glared at them for a moment then sighed, motioning for them to sit down on the his bed. Sasha sat on the bed, her legs crossed, her hands resting in her lap. Ryan sat with his right leg bent up at the knee so his foot rested on the edge of the bed, and his left leg lay sideways, resting on the bed under his other leg like it were bridge. Percy came and sat on Sasha's bed across from them, his expression hard to read.  
"Look, besides my mom and my step dad, I've never really had any family. I've had Tyson, but he's a Cyclops and he lives down with my dad in his underwater palace. So when it was announced that you two were children of Poseidon, it was…shocking. I mean, I've always been an only child, and suddenly I'm given two younger siblings to watch out for. So…you can't blame me for being protective," He said, then his cheeks reddened, "I mean, I wasn't even _that _protective, so it's not like you guys should—"  
"Percy, _chill._ Dude it's not like you were even _that bad_. Sure, I mean, it was stupid to lock us up in the cabin, but, ah, how do I say this without making you think it's okay to put rules on me? Uhm…it's…..instinct, I guess?" Sasha said, slightly amused. He was actually _embarrassed. _She wished Ryan were embarrassed about _his _behavior more often. Unfortunately, she doubted that would happen. Besides, for once, she felt slightly pleased to be the one looked out for, instead of looking out for. Since Ryan was such an idiot, and technically she was older, she was always looking out for him. Not that she truly minded, but Ryan could be a _real _psycho, and sometimes taking the credit for his screw-ups got her into a lot of trouble. The worst part was that the moron never returned the favor. Thankfully now she could be the one babied and taken care of.  
"Actually, I was shocked you didn't argue to take a shift watching that son of Kronos. I was totally prepared to full-out battle you over that one." He said, and he cracked a smile. Nervously, Sasha chuckled.  
"Hah. Yeah….."  
"I _wanted _ to take a shift," Ryan muttered, "Sasha clamped her hand over my mouth. It tastes _gross, _by the way." Sasha turned to glare at her twin.  
"Wait, _Sasha_ didn't want you volunteering? Why?"  
She sighed, defeated. "I don't trust that kid. I don't like him, I don't think he should be here."  
"I should've let you vote." He said, and Sasha glowered at him.  
"Bit late for that, but thanks."  
"I would've voted he stay," Ryan commented helpfully, and Sasha and Percy turned to him.  
"Yeahh, I think I still would've kept you form voting." Percy said, and Sasha laughed.

-  
_"So they're fooled?" A voice, familiar to Sasha, said. She was surrounded in so much darkness, she couldn't see herself. She couldn't see anything, but she had an eerie, nervous feeling. She wished she'd wake up. Then another voice spoke in response to the first.  
"Yes. They don't suspect a thing. I must say, however, that girl you said would be there, they have her strictly protected. Not only her, her brother as well. The only child of Poseidon present at the meeting was the boy of the first prophecy. The only way the rest of the council communicated through to those two was via IM. It's not possible they could understand their gravity in this prophecy, is it?" Charbel's voice echoed from the darkness.  
"Impossible. You heard it as well as I—they still have no knowledge of the prophecy itself. It must be Perseus's fatal flaw at work, he's trying to protect his family. How cute."  
"Too bad it won't be enough," Charbel hissed, "you and I together are invincible."  
"_I alone _am invincible. I am simply using you to get the information I need until I am prepared to take on those vexatious demigods. Once they are wiped out, Olympus will be easy to topple. You are my eyes to this mission, son, your job is important. Do not fail me." The last words were said with such gravity Sasha shuddered. She was horrified to think of what would happen if they found out she was there. 'I should've known this was Kronos.' She thought to herself.  
"I cannot help but pity the children of the sea god, however," Charbel began, "It is only Percy you have a feud with, is it not?"  
"Blood is blood." The titan said decidedly.  
"Father, the girl—she's with us." Charbel said, and Sasha tensed. She could feel the tension in the atmosphere, despite the fact that she was blind in the darkness.  
"You brought her here?" Kronos asked doubtfully.  
"I did no such thing, the girl found her way here on her own. I don't know if she can hear us or not, but I can sense both her and her brother's presence."  
"_Which brother?_" The titan demanded.  
"Me," Percy's voice echoed, loud and clear, through the twilight, "nice to hear from you again Kronos, come back for another ass whooping?" He egged on, and Sasha heard the titan snarl.  
"You will regret your choices, boy. Tartarus is merciless."  
"I was missing a good challenge. I actually thought the fun was over for a moment there." Percy said, and Charbel hissed.  
"You're an idiot, Percy."  
"Leave the boy. He'll see what will happen to him and his family soon enough." The titan said, and in the darkness Sasha was suddenly able to make out a small ray of light. Gradually, oh so gradually, the light grew larger. _

-  
Sasha opened her eyes and yelped as the sudden rush of light blinded her momentarily.  
"Sasha?" Percy. _'Ughhh,'_ She thought, recounting the events of her dream.  
"I'm fine, Percy." She said reassuringly, getting up out of bed. Percy walked over and motioned to Ryan, who was still snoring in his sleep.  
"I envy him," She whispered, and Percy sighed.  
"You get used to it after a couple of years of war," He said with bitterly, "and lucky for you, it seems like we have a war coming up."

* * *

A.N. Hey guys, so listen. I know the plot of the story's progressing _excrutiatingly _slow, but I'm one of those people who doesnt really like when everything moves so fast it's uninteresting. I know it's going slow (i truly apologize that there isn't really anything too interesting in this chapter) but it'll pick up in the coming chappies. I swear! Thanks :)


	20. Chapter 20

"So, explain to me again, just _what _was going on?" Ryan asked, yet again. He, Sasha, Leo, Jonathan, Garrett, and Nico were all sitting together at the Poseidon table, Sasha informing them of her and Percy's shared dream. She'd barely touched her breakfast—save the blueberry muffin, it was absolutely amazing. She sighed, not wanting to recount the events again.  
"I _told you already twice_" She said, her irritation seeping in her voice, and Nico nodded thoughtfully.  
"And I'm assuming the reason that Percy, Chiron, and Annabeth are all absent this morning is because they are discussing this same thing?" He asked, and Sasha nodded.  
"Well, hang on. This kid can't really cause us any harm anyways….can he?" Leo asked, and Jonathan rolled his eyes.  
"Really Leo, how is it that you're only a mad genius when you want to be?" He asked, and the son of Hephaestus grinned.  
"It's a gift."  
"Actually, the fact that he truly is working against us is extremely disadvantageous. Not that I didn't feel this way before, but now it's even more urgent—we need to take this Son of Kronos for a swim in the lethe and then ditch him at the nearest McDonalds." Nico said, and Sasha raised an eyebrow at him.  
"Dude, what is it with you and McDonalds?" She asked, curious as to his obsession with the chain restaurant.  
"Who knows? Ever since he first came to Camp he's had a thing for it. Weird, huh?" Garrett said, laughing, and Nico rolled his eyes.  
"Excuse _you_, . Like you're one to talk."  
"Yeah seriously man, you've ordered that place so much I think if I ever see I piece of fried chicken again I'm going to explode." Jonathan said, holding his stomach with both hands.  
They continued to joke around and tease one another, but Sasha was lost in her own train of thought.  
"Okay, well, I think I'm going to head over to the beach. I kinda want some time to myself," She said, standing up from the table.  
"I'll go with you," Nico said, and Sasha turned to him, eyebrow raised. He shrugged.  
"I thought you might want some company."  
She turned to look at the rest of her friends, who were all looking down at their plates or off into other directions, conveniently _not _looking at either of them. She sighed.  
"Alright, since you obviously didn't hear me say I wanted to be alone, I guess it doesn't matter. Come on." She began to walk away from the pavilion, Nico's footsteps sounding behind her. She turned to look back at her friends and caught a quick glimpse of all of them grinning like idiots before they all turned away. She shook her head and turned to look ahead of her again.

-  
"Wait, I don't understand. So he _didn't _ask you out?" Jonathan asked, and Sasha rolled her eyes.  
"I never said _that_," She argued, shrugging. Recollecting what had happened between her and Nico, she smiled internally. They'd been walking on the beach, discussing Charbel and how the camp should proceed in the issue from this point, and she'd let herself get lost in her own train of thought. She couldn't even recall when they stopped talking and had simply walked together in silence, but she knew very well that it'd been a while before he'd vaguely asked her about a date. Of course, Sasha picked up the hint immediately and was happy to agree.  
"Well how am I supposed to understand what 'Nyeo' means?!" The curly haired son of Apollo exclaimed, exasperation evident.  
"It means no yes" She said, fully aware she was simply annoying her friend further, and completely amused by it.  
"Whatever, you're no source of information whatsoever. I'm going to find Nico," He declared, and with that walked off, leaving Sasha to watch him fade away, smiling. Once he was out of view, she turned and made her way to her own cabin, oddly stricken by the wild urge to contact Andrea. On her way to cabin three, she passed the Big house. Slowly, she turned to gaze disdainfully at the blue, worn, wooden cabin before making a split-second decision and purposefully starting toward it. She climbed the steps and shouldered the front door open without even thinking of what she was doing—she feared that her common sense would tell her to run away as fast as her legs could carry her. However, she didn't want to do that. Besides, she wasn't even sure why she was so afraid of Charbel anyways; it wasn't as if that was the scariest dream she'd ever had. And even on top of that—_he'd _done nothing to truly trigger fear in her in the first place; it was just the demon waitress. Still, no matter how much she tried to convince herself it was ridiculous, it didn't make it any easier to walk into the room were the son of Kronos was being kept. He looked up at her as she entered the room and smiled, as if he'd been expecting her.  
"Funny, I thought I'd have to go through major difficulties to be graced with your presence" He said, and Sasha sneered.  
"I didn't come here for _you_, stupid," She seethed, and Charbel smiling at her, as if he already knew what she wanted.  
"No? A pity. Then what is it that you wanted?"  
She took a deep breath and turned away so she was no longer facing the boy in the bed before her.  
"I need your help."


	21. Chapter 21

"You need my help?" He asked, mock surprise oozing from his tone. She nodded.  
"It's taking every last bit of my will power not to fling myself over there and strangle you to death. You don't belong here, and all you'll cause is trouble."  
"Then why not just kill me then? I'm unarmed, you could do it hands down."  
"No, I _can't._ As much as I hate saying this, we need information, and you're the only one who can give it to us."  
"None of you seem to have considered the idea I may simply refuse."  
"And you, in turn, don't seem to have considered that we may just have to kill you if you don't help us."  
At that, Charbel sneered. "The former is much more paralyzing then _your _proposition, my dear." Sasha, her back now facing the boy, stiffened.  
"Don't call me that,"  
"Why? Because of that little boyfriend of yours outside? Afraid he may overhear, are you? How cute."  
Seething, Sasha turned to give the boy a look so intense and intimidating, it very well could have melted glass.  
"Listen to me very clearly. I don't care who you are or how great you think your cause is, you're nothing but an idiot without a brain of his own who does nothing but what his father tells him to. You're here, in custody now, you're head wanted mounted on the wall, and yet you still stay truthful to him, despite the fact that he's not going to help you. If he were going to, you would be gone by now, that much is apparent. But you're stuck here, surrounded by the people you despise most in the world, and eventually that Rachel girl is going to determine what we should do with you and that is what we'll do. But let me tell you this," her voice dropped down to a whisper, "If you try anything that dangers the lives of my friends, no matter _what _Chiron declares your fate is, even if he grants you freedom, I promise you this: I will personally run you through with my sword over and over again and I will throw the corpse into the pits of Tartarus for your father to see what a failure you turned out to be."  
Charbel raised an eyebrow. "I pity you. I truly do."  
Sasha sneered, "And just why is that?"  
"You're all going to die."

-  
Instead of doing the rational thing like informing someone of her conversation with their little captive, she kept the information to herself. Strictly because she was sure that the son of Kronos was bluffing. Not only that, but that she didn't want to tell anyone. Simple as that. So, she decided, as she made her way to her cabin, _not _to dwell on her decision, and _not _to visit the Big House again while that titan offspring occupied one of its rooms.  
"Hey!" A voice from behind her greeted as she began the ascent up the stairs to her cabin.  
"I've been looking for you, where ya been?" The voice asked, and Sasha sighed and turned to the speaker.  
"Hey" She said, rolling her eyes at Jonathan and slowly, irritably making her way down the steps.  
"So I talked to Nico,"  
"Did you now?"  
"Yeah. And don't you go all cocky and sarcastic with me."  
"I'm so scared of the consequences." She said, rolling her eyes, adding a bit of a joking tone as to not have him suspect she was not in a good mood.  
"Whatever. Hey, I don't know what's wrong with you, but I was trying to make you laugh."  
She sighed. "Listen, sorry. I'm just kinda stressed out."  
Jonathan snickered. "What, nervous about what to wear on your date?"  
Sasha put her head between her hands and shook it slightly, her loose wavy brown hair swishing with the movement. She was suddenly the victim of an incredible headache, and she longed for nothing more than to lie down in her bunk and pass out. She made a shooing gesture to Jonathan with one of her hands, keeping the other on her head.  
"Something like that. I'm gonna go try to take a nap." She said, and she made her way up the worn steps to her cabin.

_Sasha sat up, surrounded by three brick walls and a path leading her elsewhere. With much difficulty, she stood, gripping onto one of the walls to support her as she slowly, painfully made her way out. She felt drained. She reached the end of her brock wall, turning her head to the right to get a look beyond. What Sasha saw made her want to scream, but she suppressed the urge. She saw Andrea, a bloody heap on the ground a mere few feet away from where she stood. She gasped and fell to her knees, crawling to her friend. Teary eyed, she checked her friend for a pulse, and began to sob when she came up with no result. She felt a growing wet pain in the side and saw that she had an ugly gash running all aoong her chest from her hip up. The pain was paralyzing. 'You haven't seen anything yet, stupid girl. Look further.' The titan's voice boomed in her mind, and Sasha's wet eyes widened, afraid to look for what other damage he'd dome. Cautiously raising her head beyond Andrea's dead body, her hand flew up to cover her horrified, heart broken scream. Off in the far distance, much further beyond where Sasha's energy could have her walk, she could see corpse upon corpse littering the ground. Most were unfamiliar, but a lot meant so much to her. Jonathan, Leo, Percy, Ryan, her mom, Mikeal, slowly, painstakingly, stood and limped her way to Percy. His heart was flailing, desperately and hopelessly, and she knew that he'd be dead within minutes. His eyes opened slightly, and he looked up at her. He placed something in her hand before his heart stopped, and she, sobbing uncontrollably, turned down to examined it. The pendant was a teal crystal, cut into the shape of a seashell. It was connected to a simple leather rope. There was nothing truly fascinating about the charm, but Percy had died giving it to her. Crying, she placed it around her neck, and gasped at the fiery sensation where the stone touched her skin. She tried to remove the necklace, but everything disappeared, leaving her in the shadows._

_-_  
The daughter of Poseidon gasped quietly, slowly opening her eyes. A pillow flew across the room and hit her in the face. She heard someone scoff from across the room.  
"And everyone says I have horrible aim," Ryan said cockily, "_Please_."  
Sasha rolled her eyes at her brother, slowly swinging her legs over the side of her bunk and standing up. She moved to her drawer to find something to change into, not even glancing at her brother as she passed.  
"So you and Nico are a couple now?" He asked teasingly, and Sasha threw her head back in annoyance.  
"_No_, Ryan. We haven't even been on a date yet."  
He smiled at her, suppressing a laugh, and shrugged, holding his hands up in surrender.  
"Whatever."  
Sasha sighed at her brother, grabbed her clothes, and made her way to the bathroom. She changed quickly and grabbed her brush, looking at her reflection in the mirror as she brought the brush up to her head but froze when she saw a flash of light around her neck. She gasped, her hand slowly hand warily hovering the teal seashell pendant around her neck.


	22. Chapter 22

She carefully probed the pendant, wary of whether it would burn her neck as it had in the dream or not. After it was apparent it wouldn't harm her, in one swift movement, she grabbed it and yanked it off her neck, flinging it across the room. The gore and blood and gruesomeness of her nightmare returned in a flash, and she gasped, suddenly unable to get enough oxygen into her lungs. She exited the bathroom hastily, making her way to the cabin door. After exiting the cabin, she made her way to the beach. She thought of somewhere else she could go, but nothing really came up other than her father's turf. She lied down on the sand, exhausted. She stared straight up at the sky, thinking of nothing but how pretty it's shade of blue was. The waves lapped against her; it was an odd feeling, being splashed by water but not getting wet. She closed her eyes, and the pendant flashed behind her eyelids. She threw her eyes open and sat up on the shore abruptly, her hands clenched into fists in the sand.  
"Sasha."  
The voice seemed to have formed from the blowing sea breeze, nothing but a whisper in the wind. She raised an eyebrow and shook her head, sure this was nothing but a trick of her mind due to all the clouded, undecipherable thoughts.  
_"Sasha."_  
She whipped her head towards the ocean. This time her name had sounded like an actual person speaking, not the wind. Definitely not a trick of her own mind. Paranoid, she continued to look around her, before her eyes rested on the ocean again. She watched the waves grow smaller the closer they got to the beach and watched as the small waves lapped against her sides. She ran her hands along the sand, and felt something in the shore. She turned down to see a white little jewelry box, shaped like a seashell. Despite herself, she cautiously reached out and grasped the box.  
She opened it, and found the shell shaped pendant, along with a note.

_Sasha,  
You are misinterpreting your dream. The necklace didn't bring the deaths of your friends, it brought your life. It's more than just a pretty jem cut into the shape of a husk.  
-Poseidon_

-  
An hour later, Sasha still had no clue what to do with the necklace. She'd read the note over and over until she had it memorized, then continued to read it again and again. She'd thought of talking to Percy about it (he was sure to have more experience on how to deal with her dad than she did) but decided she didn't want to discuss her nightmare with him. Or anyone. She sat at table three with Percy and Ryan for lunch, picking at her tuna salad.  
"What, you don't like fish?" Percy asked, amused.  
"Hates it." Ryan responded, mouth full, and Sasha sent him a disgusted look.  
"I'll take it." Percy said helpfully, taking her plate from in front of her and setting it next to his own. Sasha rolled her eyes.  
"Whatever. I'm going to find Nico." She began to scoot out of the bench.  
"No need," Ryan said, trying to keep a straight face, "He's right over there."  
Sasha turned to see Nico over at the Hades table, looking over at her and her brothers. She smiled, and he returned the gesture before turning back to his burger. Sasha turned back to her brothers.  
"He has to sit alone at every meal?"  
Percy nodded. "It's kind of the rules."  
Sasha turned back to look at Nico, who seemed to be working on something while eating.  
"Yeah, but he doesn't have any siblings? He's completely alone?"  
"I heard he used to have a sister but some wreck less demigod got her killed." Ryan said.  
"That might've been me."  
Sasha turned to Percy. "You had Nico's sister killed?"  
Percy shifted uncomfortably. "Kind of. We were on a quest together, the titan Alas had kidnapped the goddess Artemis and Annabeth, and some of the goddess' hunters, a daughter of Zeus, and I all went on a quest to find them. Nico's sister, Bianca, had just recently been recruited to camp along with her brother, and immediately took up the offer to be one of Artemis' hunters when offered. Nico had me promise to keep her safe and she got into an incident with a giant robot in the middle of the desert. So, yeah, guilty is charged."  
"Ouch." Ryan said, and Percy shrugged. "Nico hated me for a while, then tricked me and nearly got me killed by his dad, so I guess we're kind of even."  
"Well it's stupid that he has to sit alone." Sasha said, standing up. She began to walk over to sit next to Nico, who raised an eyebrow at her quizzically but said nothing. She realized everyone at camp was watching her, too, which was weird, since Annabeth came to their table all the time to eat with Percy.  
"Hey." She said nonchalantly, and Nico rolled his eyes.  
"Hey."  
"So…" '_well, this is awkward.'_ She thought.  
"So, uh, about that movie…"  
"Uh, yeah, uhm…can I take a rain check?"  
Nico's eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah, alright, sure." He said, and he shook his head. "Uh, listen, I have to go catch up with Jonathan and Leo, so uh…."  
"Yeah. Yeah, sure. So I'll uh, see you…" She let her thought trail off when she found that he was gone, leaving nothing but a rim of shadows in his wake.

-  
"So you're telling me that suddenly the Oracle that we were waiting for before deciding on the son of Kronos' fate had a dream, or nightmare, or whatever, and she's going all oracle-possessed-mode, and so she's coming over to camp because she thinks she'll spout our a prophecy at any time and whenever she does she doesn't remember what she says when she goes back to being non-possessed?" Sasha asked, and Annabeth shrugged.  
"Kind of. You have a weird way of understanding things."  
"Well I like to know that I understand correctly."  
"Then, yes, you do."  
"Alright, fine. So Percy and Ryan know she's coming too?"  
"Yupp, and all the other head councilors."  
"Alright, cool. So I'm actually _allowed _to this meeting?" She asked, placing a hand to her chest in mock shock, and Annabeth rolled her eyes.  
"Well your brother had to get over himself eventually…"  
Annabeth's phone beeped, and she put it to her ear.  
"Hello?...Okay….yeah, we'll be right there." She put her phone away and turned to Sasha.  
"Well," She said, "Oracle's here."

-  
Sasha sat in the middle of Percy and Ryan, conveniently seated as far away from Nico as the ping-pong table would allow.  
"Hey, where'd you get that necklace?" Percy asked her, gesturing to the shell pendant. Sasha lifted her hand up to cover it and answered hastily "Found it on the beach." Percy looked at her oddly but said nothing and turned back to Chiron.  
"So, as you all know, we have been housing the Son of Kronos, waiting for Rachel, our current Oracle of Delphi, to come to camp and help us decide what to do with him. She has been recently having…..well, I'll have her tell you herself. Rachel…" Chiron moved to the side and a girl that looked around Percy's age with frizzy, curly red hair, startling pale skin with shapes and figures drawn all over it. She also had vividly green eyes and her clothes were also covered with drawings.  
"Hey. I know most of you, but I see a few new faces, so hey to you guys too. I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare. So, like Chiron began to say, I've been having weird, freaky dreams. You know, Oracle-of-Delphi-I'm-being-possessed dreams. And, uh, most of them had the face of a boy I'd never seen before. Then, I come back to camp and I see this….Charbel boy. So then I black out, which, you know, usually means I'm giving a prophecy. Then Chiron says we need to hold a council, and here I am." The girl said.  
"Well, what's the prophecy?" Clarisse asked, her annoyance evident. Clarisse wasn't one to really care about the side story, she usually liked to get to the point. Rachel closed her eyes and seemed to be concentrating. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, but they were glowing green. There was a hissing noise, like snakes, and when Rachel opened her mouth, green mist came crawling out.

_The time lord's son, conceived of a half-blood,  
And the son of the white horse; a battle for blood.  
The sun and the moon, joined together to free  
The one lost in time, the demigod of the sea.  
The princess of ocean, at the volcanoes' wake,  
the end of the world she'll solely make.  
Her choice to determine the fate of the west,  
And she, in the end, death shall possess._


	23. Chapter 23

The meeting broke out into utter chaos. The prophecy seemed to have thrown everyone off and now people were a yelling crazy mob of total disorder. Nico's eyes flashed to Sasha but quickly averted their gaze when he caught her looking back, and no matter how much Sasha tried to get him to look back at her, he seemed to be doing his best to ignore  
her, and Sasha suspected it had something to do with her blowing him off. She felt a horrible pang of guilt before realizing that offending the son of Hades was the least of her problems. Unless there was another 'princess of the Ocean' at hand, Sasha was apparently destined to die at the end of the prophecy. Even worse? Apparently she was supposed to bring the ruin of the world along with her. All around her was still buzzing with excitement and confusion and chaos, but Sasha felt sick. And no, she did not care that she could see Nico watching her out of the corner of her eye. Eventually Chiron's yells were able to quiet everyone down.  
"True, this prophecy proclaims the inevitable end of the world and tells of major catastrophes, however..."  
"There IS no however, Chiron. In order to avoid the prophecy, we need  
to kill Sasha." One guy from the Ares cabin said.  
"No, we aren't meaninglessly slaughtering my sister." Percy stated, and the boy rolled his eyes.  
"She's going to die in the end anyways."  
"Not necessarily," Percy argued, "prophecies usually have double meanings. Not that you'd know, though, seeing as you've never been on a quest."  
The boy looked as if he wanted to rip Percy's head off.  
"_'And she in the end death shall possess'_? Hm, what else could that mean demigods?  
Oh, I know, it means that she's going to end up alive and living in a  
small house in the suburbs with her two children and pet moose! thank  
you oh-mystical-oracle-great-one!" the boy exclaimed sarcastically, and Percy began to turn red with rage.  
"Look—"  
"Boys, killing Sasha is not the solution. As Percy said, prophecies are usually cryptic and their meanings not entirely clear. More so, Sasha is not the only demigod of the prophecy. It seems Charbel has turned into a bigger problem than anticipated."  
"Percy, no offence, but maybe...ending…your sister is the best option. The prophecy stated pretty clearly that she would inevitably bring the downfall of western civilization." Rachel said, avoiding Percy's piercing gaze.  
"She's _right here_, Rachel. Why don't you tell her to her face you want to kill her?" Percy shot, and Rachel turned her wide green eyes to Sasha. The Oracle blushed furiously and looked down, embarrassed. Sasha, on the other hand, was beginning to feel sicker and sicker with each passing moment. She didn't really like where the conversation was headed.  
"No, it's illogical to kill Sasha," Nico spoke up, "I'm the Son of Hades and I'm saying that it's a stupid idea. If we do that, then what? The prophecy won't disappear, it'll just wait around for the next daughter of Poseidon to accept it. You're all thinking illogically."  
"But what are the odds of there being a son of Kronos alive at the same time as a daughter and son of Poseidon?" Drew asked, back straight and chin out.  
Nico didn't even bother looking at her, just rolled his eyes and waved her off by saying "If you haven't noticed how often history repeats itself you must be a hell of a lot stupider than everyone gives you credit for."  
Drew looked like she wanted to snap back, but her face simply turned as red as her lips and she remained quiet.  
"Besides," Nico went on, "it's like Percy said, she probably _won't _destroy the world…" he let his sentence trail off, and Sasha wasn't sure if she was imagining it or not, but she thought he had something else he wanted to say but didn't.  
"I agree with Nico and Percy. Killing Sasha isn't a solution, it'll simply delay the prophecy. And like the boys said, it's more likely that the prophecy has a double meaning than that it is certain Sasha will destroy the world then die herself. Further, demigods, the prophecy isn't only about Sasha. Now we have another issue to world about—Charbel. He's the son of Kronos and a half blood." Chiron said.  
"So?" Connor Stoll asked, twirling a ping-pong ball between his fingers.  
"So it is likely he inherited his mother's demigod abilities as well as his father's gifts."  
The room seemed to drop about ten degrees, because Sasha suddenly felt shivers going down her spine and was strangely cold.  
"Okay, so not only can he control time…..he also has some other un-known ability?" Travis asked, glaring at nothing in particular. "Who in the name of Hades would ever hook up with _him?_"  
Katie Gardener, a daughter of Demeter, whom Sasha knew because Connor had told her Travis was crushing on her, spoke up. "He has a wife, idiot." Travis scowled at her but said nothing, and Connor caught Sasha's eye and snickered. Sasha, despite herself, smiled weakly.  
"Yeah, but there's also this whole issue of '_And the son of the white horse; a battle for blood.' _The white horse is obviously Poseidon, but that means Percy or Ryan will fight against Charbel. Percy, I'm not worried about, he's got that annoying Achilles' Heel, but we don't know what kind of training this Charbel has received. He's probably had a really screwed up life, I'm sure Kronos didn't make things easy for him, but on top of whatever training he's received, he has the ability to stop, slow down, and speed up time at his disposal. Ryan, on the other hand, hasn't been here for a month and is not prepared for that kind of battle." Annabeth said, staring at Ryan with something that oddly struck Sasha as what she'd call a 'protective mama bear' look. Not that Sasha had any idea why Annabeth would look at Ryan like that. Because he was Percy's little brother? Oh Gods, Sasha hoped that daughter of Athena didn't get all protective over _her_, too. She didn't think she'd be able to bear it.  
"I think that the only upside in this is that a child of Apollo and a hunter of Artemis are actually going to work together for once and accomplish something instead of trying to rip each other's throats out." Garrett said, optimistically.  
"That seems to be the only good point in the whole vision" Leo muttered, then added, "I'm not even in it!"  
"Alright, is there anything else to be said about the prophecy?" Chiron asked, and when it was apparent everyone had said everything they needed, "okay, then, meeting adjourned."


	24. Chapter 24

Sasha did her best to distance herself from the others after the meeting, and found herself wandering aimlessly in the woods. She eventually found a mound of rocks and climbed up to the top, where she sat and began to think things over for herself. In the council, everyone else had been sharing their ideas and it had been easy for them to come to their conclusions. Sasha, on the other hand, had been caught off guard entirely. She'd wanted to speak up for herself instead of letting Nico and Percy do all the talking for her, but the truth was she hadn't been at camp for over a month and she still didn't know just about anything, so when she was basically told she would destroy the world and die…. She tried to clear her head to logically think of what the prophecy meant, but she kept thinking of Charbel's taunting words. _'You're all going to die…..you're all going to die…' _over and over on non-stop repeat in her mind. And she couldn't block it out. She groaned in frustration and wished she had Andrea to talk to about it, although she doubted she would ever see Andrea again, let alone talk to her. She stayed there, seated on the rock, thinking about the prophecy, and Charbel, and Ryan, and Nico, and Percy and Annabeth and how afraid she was of it all until the sun went down and it grew dark. She decided eventually, and with much hesitance, it was time to return to camp. She hopped down from the rock landing gracefully on her feet (thanks to the training she'd been receiving at camp) and began to walk away when she heard a low growling emitting from the shrubbery ahead. She froze dead in her tracks when she saw a glowing pair of eyes leering at her in the dark. Horrified, she felt her legs turn to sudden lead and stayed rooted to where she stood, even as the growling seemed to grow closer and the eyes larger. Something told her that trying to run would be plain stupid—this creature was obviously four times her size, if not more, and could catch her even before she had time to turn her back to the monster. Still unable to get a good visual of her opponent, she was able to make out its shape, which made her drop her jaw. Was it a…..dog? But Sasha loved dogs!  
"Shhh….hey, sweetie, who's a cute lit…_big_ doggy?" She said, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice. The dog growled in response, its eyes leering into her intensely, with a vicious intelligence in them. Sasha continued on, putting her hands up in front of her in a peaceful gesture.  
"Now, how're you doing, big guy? You lonely?" Sasha's eyes were anxiously darting around, desperate to find something, _anything_, to distract this towering canine. She jumped down to grab a stick and, with a yelp, dodged the dog's jaws, which barely missed her foot. She raised the stick high above her head and smiled.  
"Here, boy…..I bet no one ever plays with you, do they?"  
The dog barked, foam from his mouth splashing Sasha. _'EW!'_ She cringed.  
"Uh…I guess not? Well, uhm…..fetch!" She tossed the stick off to the side. The dog watched it fly across the clearing before it settled at the edge of the clearing. He turned back to her as if to say _'you've got to be kidding me. Seriously?'_  
Before Sasha had the chance to think up another distraction, the dog lunged. Sasha's head made contact with a rock and Sasha felt her head grow wet. _  
'Well isn't this turning out just _perfect_?'_ She thought miserably. The dog-beast was so huge one paw was enough to restrain the demigod entirely, save her head and neck. It barked at her angrily as if saying _'You seriously wasted my time with a _stick?! _Really original, stupid girl.'_ Not that Sasha didn't agree. Now the dog's mouth-foam was getting all over Sasha's face, and the smell made her gag. A mixture of rotten meat, dog treats, and…..was that _garlic_? Gods, that dog needed a mint. Sasha tried to struggle free of the dog's paw, even though she knew it was a failed attempt from the beginning. Oddly enough, she wasn't afraid as she expected she'd be at the face of death. Maybe she hoped that if she died now, she wouldn't have to worry about ruining the world.  
That's when it happened.  
It was hard to describe, really. Sasha could never describe it, even though since that first occurrence it's happened countless times, she could never put it into words. The shell pendant around her neck began to grow warm. Then hot. Then it began to glow a fluorescent green and the anterior end of the shell began to elongate and adapt a shining bronze. The rest of the shell was changing, too. The spire of the shell stretched until it was twice its original length and width, turning to the color of pearl and just as smooth. The middle of the shell extended outwards and changed the same way the spire did in color and texture. If Sasha didn't know any better, she'd say that the new element was constructed of pearl. The end product was a four foot long gleaming celestial bronze sword with a pearl hilt and her shell pendant embedded in the chappe of the sword. This whole process was completed in a matter of seconds. Was a pity her arms weren't free. Racking her brain for any solution to free herself, she desperately grabbed the pommel of her sword (which was a pearl replica of her shell pendant) in between her teeth and jabbed it into the monster's toe. With a yelp, it jumped back, freeing Sasha. She struggled to stand and gripped her sword. Prepared to strike, she was shocked when the dog's body suddenly went rigid and a chasm opened a mere two feet from where Sasha stood, engulfing the dog before resealing itself. In front of her stood the one and only Nico Di Angelo, his infamous black knife in hand. She smiled and him and croaked a thanks, but he just stared at her, furious.  
"Hasn't _anyone _told you not to come out here at night?!" He seethed, and Sasha shrugged.  
"Percy, but—"  
"—you realize how close you were to dying right now, right? When I came into the clearing I could _literally see_ your life fading!" He shouted, and she stared at him, growing angry.  
"It's not _my _fault one of your dad's little pets decided to attack me! How did he even get into camp? Besides, if you didn't notice, I had it under control! I would've been fine!" She exploded.  
"But—"  
"And _even if it did kill me_, so what? I wouldn't have to worry about that stupid prophecy anymore anyways! I mean, I'm gonna die ANYWAYS!" She shouted, and Nico looked as if he was a little boy who she'd just slapped across the face. She immediately regretted lashing out at him.  
"Nico, I—,"  
"Your head." He said suddenly, and she raised an eyebrow.  
"What about it?"  
"Your, oh my gods, we need to get you to the infirmary. _Now._" He grabbed her arm lightly and began to lead her to away from the fight scene, watching her carefully as if she were about to pass out dead.  
"Nico, I'm _fine."_ She insisted, but he wouldn't listen. He began to guide her out of the woods and Sasha grew dizzier and dizzier. Nico was right. Her head was hurting her. She reached back to touch it and her hand came back wet. She felt feverish and ready to pass out.  
"Nico…"  
He turned to her, and before she had time to protest, had lifted her up into his arms. She leaned her head against his chest before realizing she was probably staining his shirt and he was probably totally disgusted and jerking her head away with so much force she nearly toppled out of his arms.  
"It's okay, rest you head. But don't close your eyes, dammit, or I won't forgive you." He was joking, but there was anxiety masked under his words. She nodded, too weak to speak, and rested her head on his chest, determined not to close her eyes. Which proved to be an extremely difficult goal, as her eyes refused to stay open. Finally they entered a room and Sasha was blinded by light. She squirmed in Nico's grip. She felt herself being lay down on a bed and felt things getting injected into her, along with Nico and another voice discussing in hushed, urgent tones. Then a hand gripped her hand and Nico said "you can go ahead and sleep now."  
Sasha was out before he even finished his sentence.


	25. Chapter 25

The next time Sasha gained consciousness, she was in unbearable pain. Her veins felt like someone had set her insides aflame and she wimpered and shifted in the cot, unable to do anything else. When she moved, though, her pain in her head increased by tenfold. She felt as if someone was shredding, freezing, and boiling her head all at the same time. While running her head over with a truck. All in all, it was the most painful experience Sasha had ever endured. Her eyes fluttered open slightly, and she saw Nico looking over her, his eyebrow creased with worry. She was suddenly conscious of a cold hand gripping her own tightly, and realized it was Nico's. She must not have been out for long, because Nico was still talking with someone Sasha couldn't see and Sasha could feel someone gingerly lifting her head and cleaning it with something. It burnt like hell. Sasha shuddered, and Nico raised one of his lands to her cheek. It was cool and felt pleasant against Sasha's feverish skin, so she leaned into it and yelped as her doctor continued to treat her head, each new contact between the cloth and her head worse than the previous. Nico whispered something to her, but Sasha couldn't make it out. She thought she saw his lips form the words 'Don't die', but the pain was so excruciating and distracting she couldn't be sure. Nico stared into her eyes, and she stared back. His eyes were so deeply brown they looked like they were black, and Sasha figured his eyes were the only things keeping her from closing her own. He leaned down until she could feel his warm breath on her skin. He smelled like ashes, but somehow Sasha loved it. He leaned in closer, and his lips lightly brushed Sasha's. Frustrated and in no position to be tempted, she leaned in further, the pain sending volts through her body like lightning. She whimpered and Nico, who seemed to think _he _was causing her pain, pulled away entirely. She tried to speak, but she couldn't utter any words. She wanted to tell him how she felt, how much she wanted to be with him, everything, but she couldn't say a word. And for some reason she suspected it had nothing to do with the fact that she had a giant crack in her head. He placed his cool hands on either side of her face, and she fell asleep.

-  
Sasha awoke the next time with Jonathan rubbing something on Sasha's cut that burned like hell.  
"What are you _doing?"_ She asked, her voice hoarse.  
"Oh, you're up. Good. It's been about three days you've been out. And I'm rubbing you're head with nectar. We had to stitch up your head to speed up the process and now me and a couple others from Apollo's cabin apply nectar to it every hour."  
Sasha moaned. "And how long till I'm let out?"  
Jonathan shrugged. "Now that you're awake and obviously haven't suffered any memory-loss or anything major, two days tops."  
"Good, it seems I spend more time here then actually participating in camp activities."  
Jonathan chuckled, finished applying nectar to Sasha's head and moved a bit back. "That's because you do."  
She rolled her eyes and tried to think of what else she remembered.  
_'Duh!'_ She thought suddenly. How could she have forgotten? She'd kissed _Nico. Nico Di Angelo_. Oh Gods, her head hurt. She needed to think without Jonathan looking at her as if she was suffering a relapse of bleeding.  
"Jonathan, I just want to be able to think for a second, could I…ah…"  
"Yeah, sure, I'll leave. But I have to warn you, every time shifts change, Percy comes to check on you, so you won't be alone long."  
"Okay. Thanks Jonny."  
"Mmhm."  
He left, the wooden door of the infirmary swinging closed behind him. Now Sasha was able to think about what a total mistake she'd made in peace. She should _not _have kissed Nico. Oh no. She should not have done that at all. Holy Hephaestus what had Sasha been thinking!? She knew what she had been thinking, she _HADN'T _been thinking! And now she would have to go talk with Nico about how it wouldn't work…..Oh Gods, Sasha wished she'd died. She already could picture his face when she would have to lie to him and tell him that she didn't care for him she was simply half-dead and he had kissed her at the wrong time. He would give her those beautiful, horrified eyes and that same face he'd given her before, as if she'd struck him across the face. Sasha was feeling very very mixed about the whole situation. One part of her, the totally selfish part, wanted to not tell him that she didn't like him at all, in fact, wanted to tell him the exact contrary.  
_'But…I _don't _like him_.' She told herself. The thought made her feel guilty, although no one knew she'd thought of it but herself. She lied down and sighed deeply, fully and utterly confused. Just one more thing to add onto her list of problems to deal with:  
1-Dying  
2-Destroying the world  
3-Nico Di Angelo


	26. Chapter 26

Sasha was let out of the infirmary a day early and everything seemed to have returned to normal, save the fact that now there were millions of rumors circulating about Sasha, her brothers, Charbel and the prophecy, and Drew was the main source of all things anti-the children of Poseidon at camp half blood. The funny thing was that this didn't really affect Sasha as negatively as it would have a few weeks ago. Actually, she didn't care about Drew at all anymore. Sasha made the decision not to confront Nico about what had happened, she wouldn't be able to bear it. She would simply avoid him as much as possible. It proved, however, to be difficult. Every time she'd pass by him, he'd smile at her and she'd be struck with a horrible feeling of guilt before averting her eyes and quickly shuffling away. She began spending more time with the Stoll brothers again; they had been a few of her first friends at camp and was grateful that after everything that had happened their friendship stayed true. She stopped spending time with Jonathan, Leo, and Nico altogether. Ryan's relationship with the boys, however, was the same as ever. Then again, neither he nor Percy knew about what had happened in the infirmary. Actually, Sasha was trying to forget it entirely herself. It caused herself too much confusion and always left her feeling as though her skull was cracked open. Travis and Connor were good company, too, and as the days progressed, she slowly began to think about Nico less and less. Yet her mind wouldn't allow her to forget him completely. At night she would wake up covered in sweat, her heart racing. Usually the dreams were of a triumphant Charbel standing over Nico's dead body. Even worse, sometimes they portrayed she and Nico kissing until Sasha would stab him through the back and directly pierce his heart with his own black sword. It got to the point where Sasha began to try and avoid sleep altogether, constantly busying herself with something. She was ADHD, so it wasn't too hard. She spent quite a bit of time with Annabeth and Percy too, and had met a cool sister of Annabeth's named Arya. She had straight brown hair that fell down to her elbows. Her eyes, identical to her sister's, were stormy gray. She wore dark blue ray-bans and Sasha grew extremely fond of her in a short amount of time. A few days later Sasha walked into her cabin to see her shell pendant and a note from none other than Nico Di Angelo.  
_'Hey, thought you might be missing this. Found it in the woods. Meet me at the beach after dinner. -Nico' _ It was written in Greek, but Sasha's mind had no problem processing it. Extremely tempted by the offer, Sasha crumpled the note and tossed it across the room. After dinner, Sasha made a quick beeline to her cabin, blowing off Nico's offer altogether. The guilt was unbearable. But what _else _was she expected to do? She tried reading Clockwork Prince (which she still hadn't found the time to finish) to forget about her own problems and be able to dwell on the issues of Tessa Gray. She was not, however, successful. Will just resembled Nico too much and Jem's personality reminded her of the son of Hades, too. Finally she gave up the hopeless attempt and put the book back with a sigh. She couldn't help feeling totally distraught about boy problems, even if she absolutely _loathed _herself for it. Arya found her way to the Poseidon cabin, and Sasha couldn't keep it to herself anymore. She told her _everything_ that had happened, from the first day she met Nico Di Angelo.  
"Well…" Arya began, seeming to be searching for the right words. "I don't really know what to tell you. Why don't you ask Drew?" She teased, and Sasha rolled her eyes.  
"Shut up. If I were to ask anyone in that cabin it would be Piper. But you have a boyfriend, so I figured you'd be at least _somewhat _helpful." Sasha smirked when Arya stiffened indignantly.  
"I _am_," She said angrily, "If I were you I would march up to him and tell him 'Look you, I like you, a lot, alright?' Then passionately make out." She shrugged.  
Sasha glowered at the other girl. "When did I ever tell you I liked him? I never even said that! I don't!"  
Arya rolled her eyes. "If you _didn't, _you wouldn't be feeling so guilty right now. Basic psychology."  
"Emotions have nothing to do with psychology."  
"They do, but psychology just has nothing to do with your situation."  
Sasha rolled her eyes. "Thanks for your help."  
"Hey! You asked my opinion, I told it to you!"  
"Well, I just—"  
"Look, take my advice, alright? You'll regret it if you don't. And besides, you owe him that much." Arya got up, and, with a wink, left Poseidon's cabin, leaving Sasha more distraught than she had been before her visit.

-  
Sasha found herself wandering to the beach, even though it would throw away all the work she'd done ignoring Nico in the past week. When she got there, she saw the black waves lapping against the shore, and gray sand, and the dark sky stretching to the beyond. But no Nico. With a flash of disbelief, she thought he'd gotten tired of waiting for her and left.  
"Well what took y_ou _so long?" A familiar, silky voice asked from directly behind Sasha, and she jumped, turning to face Nico. He'd appeared behind her as if he'd formed out of the shadows—because that's exactly what he'd done.  
"Er….sorry."  
Nico rolled his eyes but the edge of his lip quirked up into a smile.  
"I'm surprised you showed up, with how you've been acting with me."  
"I wasn't going to," Sasha admitted, embarrassed. "I didn't _want _to."  
"Why?" Nico asked, and Sasha heard genuine hurt in her voice.  
"Be-_cause_," Sasha said, exasperated, "What _else_ was I supposed to do?"  
Nico's eyebrows furrowed, and he looked at the daughter of Poseidon with disbelief.  
"You're blowing me off because I _kissed you_?"  
"YES!" She cried, throwing her hands up in the air, then she thought about what she said. "What? No! I mean, kind of. But that's not it as much as.."  
"I don't understand, then why are you not talking to me?"  
"The prophecy! It ruined everything!"  
"You're mad about the prophecy?"  
"Well, yes!"  
"What does that have to do with me?!" Nico shouted, and Sasha felt like jumping into the ocean and staying at the bottom until Nico left the beach.  
"I don't know! Nothing! _Everything! _You kissed me and I'm supposed to die and it wouldn't _work!_" She exclaimed.  
"_YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!"_  
"Yes, I _do_, it was right there in the last line of that prophecy! And worse still? I'm supposed to take the world down with me! It's already hard enough for me to distance myself from you and you're not making it any easier! If I were going to be totally selfish I wouldn't be ignoring you right now but—"  
Sasha was mid-sentence when Nico pressed his lips against Sasha's. Sasha, all thoughts evaporating as soon as Nico's lips touched her own, relaxed in his grip and lifted her hand to run it through his silky onyx hair. Her eyes closed as he let his hands run through her own long waves of chocolate hair and Sasha couldn't think of anything else but him.  
Nico. Nico Di Angelo. Sasha was kissing him. At the exact moment she _shouldn't _have been kissing him, she was. Her eyes snapped open with shock and she separated herself from Nico frantically. He stared at her, shocked.  
"Nico what was that!? Did you not hear anything I just said?"  
"Sasha—"  
"As if it's not hard enough for me already?! And—"  
"Then _STOP!_" He yelled, and Sasha stared at Nico.  
"_Stop_ avoiding me, _stop _ignoring me, _stop _worrying about me and _stop_—" He put one hand one each of her cheeks, and once again the cool feel made her shudder. "—pushing me away."  
He didn't attempt to kiss her again, and for that, Sasha was grateful. She gently removed his hands.  
"I'm sorry." She whispered, her voice cracking. She made her way back to cabin three, and it took allher energy to not look back.

* * *

A.N.: I try not to do too many Author's notes, but sometimes I just have to take up some time to tell you guys how much I really love you. Every time I see I have a new review or follower or favorite, I just get the most awesome feeling ever and if it weren't for all the support given by you guys I would have stopped writing this story a longggggg time ago but you guys kept me motivated to continue it, so thank you soooo much 3


	27. Chapter 27

A.N.: This chapter took me forever. I could blame it all on traveling to Dubai and me being sick but when it boil right down to it it's all because of my horrible writer's block I've had, and in all honesty, it couldn't have had worse timing. It totally collided with my spring break and the writing portion of my vacation was a total bust. I finally, however, managed to finish it. Of course, I had no other option but to make it from Nico's point of view, but hey, anything to move on from my block, right? Enjoy this long awaited chapter, the final chapter of the Ocean's Daughter until the sequel fanfiction I'm planning on writing ;) I want to thank everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed this fic. It was my first on and I was soooo happy you all liked it! Keep a lookout for the sequel!  
~Much love, Lola3

—

Nico could not, for even one second, fathom why Sasha was worried about his safety. He was the son of Hades, the god of the dead. He wasn't dying any time soon. Nico wasn't cocky, either. Not even in the least bit. Son of the God of Dead with a dead sister and mother and a reputation as one of the weirdest demigods at camp? Yeah, his self esteem was way high up there. But even still, he knew Sasha liked him back. Ryan'd told him. So even though it was probably the stupidest thing he'd done, when Sasha kept on rambling about wanting to be with him but not wanting to be with him he just wanted to shut her up. So even though, yes, it was idiotic, it was a split second decision to kiss her and he'd ended up regretting it. Er, not the kiss. her reaction. Every time he passed Sasha now she wouldn't even look his way. She'd stop in her tracks, divert her gaze, whirl around and speed-walk away. She didn't seem to notice it slowly killing him internally. Or maybe she did and just believed that 'she was doing it for him' bullshit. Either way, Nico figured he'd crack eventually. He continued to hang out with Ryan, Leo, Jonathan, and the others, but Sasha found a way to ignore him then, too. She simply ignored the others unless they weren't with Nico, and he couldn't remember another time he'd been so frustrated since Bianca's death. It was almost as if Sasha had never known him and she expected him to act the same—which, there was no doubt in Nico's mind, was her goal. Her brothers were of no aid either; Ryan found the whole situation hilarious and when Percy talked to his sister, all she had to do was bring up Annabeth and how would HE act if he were in the same position, and he shut right up and 'totally understood where she was coming from'. Ridiculous! So, after finding no refuge in the matter from neither Ryan nor Percy, Nico moved to seek Arya's help. Arya had apparently become Sasha's closest friend since the whole ice rink incident with Andrea, and Nico was actually happy for the daughter of Poseidon. Even though, you know, she was a child of Athena and a total know-it-all, she was sincere, and Sasha needed a friend like that. And no, Nico was not just saying that because she was helping him get Sasha to acknowledge him. That's a preposterous presumption! Arya had totally understood where Nico was coming from in the situation, and although Sasha was her best friend, she was continuously pestering the girl about Nico. Her boyfriend, Orlando, was pretty cool too. He was a son of Hecate, and some of the tricks he could do with magic were badass.  
Weeks went by, And even with both Arya and Orlando pestering Sasha, her decision on how to deal with Nico never wavered. One night during a discussion in the Hades cabin between Arya, Nico, and Orlando, the topic popped up, just as it frequently did. Arya had been rummaging through Nico's things and found the stack of pictures of Sasha Ryan had given her. He couldn't remember why exactly, but the boy had been angry at his sister, snuck into her room, stolen some of her favorite pictures and given them to Nico for "safe keeping". That was before the twins had found out they were demigods; when Nico was still going to their school and recruiting them to camp.  
"Stalk her much?" Arya teased, waving the shots around, and Nico rolled his eyes, jumping onto his bed so he was lying on his back beside Orlando and crossing his hands behind his head.  
"Didn't have to. Those're from Ryan."  
Arya wasn't too fond of her best friend's twin, to say the least. She detested the boy, her reasons beyond Nico's knowledge, and at the sound of his name, snorted. She tossed the pictures to Orlando and Nico on the bed, rolling her eyes.  
"You're no fun." She whined, and Orlando rolled his eyes, sitting up and taking a few of the pictures to look at. Nico followed suit while Arya continued to scour the son of Hades's nightstand. The photos were all easily recognizable by Nico—several of her in multiple different locations, with a boy with tangled crimson hair and dark grey eyes, who, Nico had discovered with a bit of research, was Sasha's ex boyfriend, as well as a cousin of Andrea's. Several shots consisted of Andrea, Sasha, and Mikeal all cracking ridiculous faces to the camera, and twice that amount were of Andrea and Sasha just doing things girls usually did. Shopping, sitting in a café, at the beach, etc. In a way, Nico couldn't help feel guilty to have been responsible of stripping Sasha of the normal mortal life she could've had. Of course, she was bound to get found out by the monsters eventually, but Nico regretted that it'd been him to introduce Sasha and her brother to this world. Aside from the fact that Nico didn't care too much for Andrea, she'd been Sasha's best friend since childhood, and there was no disputing the fact that Sasha moving to camp severed their friendship. And of course there was the inevitable truth that she'd loathed Nico just as much as he her. To realize that Sasha and her brother had left with him...  
Well, that wasn't Nico's problem, seeing as Sasha didn't even bother glancing his way anymore. _'But it is your problem._' This annoying part of his mind nagged. _'Why don't you shut up?'_ The other, more dignified part responded.  
"That's weird," Nico began, collecting all the pictures to put them away, "one's missing." One of Nico's particular favorites, a shot of Sasha and Andrea covered in bubbles and making goofy faces at the camera, was missing. Shrugging, he figured it didn't matter and he put the pictures away.  
"Wonder if she found it." Orlando teased, nudging Nico with his elbow. Arya rolled her eyes.  
"So, I heard there's going to be a quest sometime soon. But it's top secret, so don't go telling anyone."  
"And how would you know that?" Nico asked, and Orlando smirked.  
"Trust me dude, this girl's got her ways."  
"Anyways," Arya continued, flashing a grin at Orlando, "apparently Rachel recited some prophecy in her sleep a couple days ago. Something about the Son of Kronos being 'a hopeless attempt of recovery to the soul, dispose of the time child with a heart of gold.' I dunno, something about his heart being an empty bottomless pit, similar to his Father's prison, and like someone with a pure heart and the right intentions can kill him. Apparently there was more, like, said pure person can only discard him at their weakest; and with some white chocolate clock or something—"  
"white chocolate?" Nico asked, raising an eyebrow.  
"—at least that's the analysis Annabeth and Malcolm came up with."  
"So basically all this information is from eavesdropping on your siblings?" Orlando asked, and Arya beamed.  
"But do me a favor? Don't tell Sasha. It'll probably make her feel even worse, and Nico, that will not help with getting you onto her good side."  
Nico scoffed. "You say that as if she talks to me."  
Arya pursed her lips.  
"Ari, Malcolm said he needed your help with…er…well, I couldn't remember everything he said exactly, but it was something, so, go help him?" Orlando asked, and Arya rolled her eyes, holding her hands up in surrender.  
"Alright, I can take a hint. I'm gonna go catch up with Jonathan, I think Sasha has archery with him now. See you!" She sprinted out of the cabin, making her way to the archery range.

-  
A week passed and nothing changed. Sasha still avoided him, he still hung out with the others whenever Sasha wasn't there, he went about his daily routines, and he began to grow less and less offended about Sasha's attitude towards him and more and more perturbed. There was also no sign of a quest popping up any time soon, and there was no sign of neither the son of Kronos or the Oracle at camp. Nico began to slip away again, too. He felt less and less attached to everyone. Percy'd been able to get him out of his down slope last time this'd happened by being there for him, but now the son of Poseidon was caught in the middle of Nico and his sister, and Nico didn't find it right to force him to make that decision. He hung in the shadows a lot more, too. It was easier—to be the observer, not the observed. Nico was eating dinner at the dining pavillion one night. The evening had started out just like any other; he'd finished swordfighting, spent some time with Leo, Jonathan, Garrett, and Ryan in the forge before heading down to the meal pavilion. He sat in his usual spot and endured the glowers shot his way from the Aphrodite cabin and the rude remarks spat by Drew and her lapdogs. Drew must've gotten even more bitter after Nico'd dumped her. If that were possible. She was already bitchy enough. Actually, Nico dating her was pretty damn stupid in the first place. It seemed so long ago. Anyways, Nico was eating a happy meal and thinking of his trip to the underworld he would be taking in a few weeks. Nico was required, by his father, to visit the underworld for a couple weeks each year. Sometimes he spent more time there. Sometimes less. He used it as an escape, when he felt too dead to have the patience to deal with the living. Chiron stomped his hoof, silencing the demigods and gaining their attention. With everything that had been going on and how much time had lapsed since the half bloods had received any information on the matter, all eyes and ears were focused on the centaur in seconds. Save those belonging to Dionysus. He sipped his diet coke, a bored expression plastered on his chubby face, his eyes dim. Chiron cleared his throat.  
"Demigods, It is time that I informed you that our oracle, Rachel, has recited a new prophecy, concerning the matter currently at hand. Rachel, if you would please..."  
The fiery haired oracle stood. Nico, from where he sat, was able to see she'd been seated at table 3. THAT must've been awkward for Sasha, after the girl had suggested they kill the Daughter of Poseidon at the council to resolve the issue of the prophecy. Nico shook his head. 'Not my problem.' He wasn't going to go crawling after her after she blatantly rejected him. What was the point of them caring for one another anyways, if she was too afraid to show she cared? Nico, as far as he was concerned, had done his part. He had to move on eventually, he wasn't going to wait around forever. Besides, he still had _some_ dignity left.  
Maybe.  
"Okay, first of all, I've been having visions in my sleep regarding the issue." Rachel sighed, then added sarcastically and with a shrug, "that's always a good omen, right?"  
No one laughed.  
"Right," she continued on, "so mostly in these visions I see four demigods. You know, the silhouettes. I can't make out their faces." Her eyes flashed to Nico. "And these demigods are on a quest for something called the 'Albus Aurum Clepsydra'. The demigods, uhm, two of them are of Big Three descent, the other two children of knowledge and sorcery."  
All eyes on the Athena and Hecate tables. Several whispers erupted around the pavilion. Hecate was never hand-picked for quests.  
"Their goal is to find the 'Albus Aurum Clepsydra', which is an ancient Roman hourglass constructed of White gold, as per the translation."  
_'Pftt, yea Arya,_ white chocolate.' Nico chuckled, earning the glares of some other campers. he glared back.  
"This hourglass was, according to a vision, constructed by a mad man named Prucilius, who was always haunted of a 'Child of the clock who would raze the world.' Of course, no one really knew what a clock was back then, but he was so paranoid about what he'd see in hallucinations that he constructed a small time telling mechanism that could be connected to a sword. I don't know what sort of advantage it has over Charbel, but it's the only thing we've got. You don't hear too much about it in the myths, either. I've looked...along with Annabeth and some of her siblings. There's little to nothing about the Albus Aurum Clepsydra anywhere.  
There's more we found out, but I think it'd be best if I recite the prophecy first."  
The oracle closed her eyes, beginning to sway slightly. She began to look as if she had gone unconscious but continued to sway rooted to where she stood when her mouth opened and green mist began to pour from it. Her eyes shot open, illuminating a vivid green light.

_'Dispose of the time child with a heart of gold.  
The uniquely crafted ornament, of no use without he;  
In the Jewel  
of the Middle East.  
To find the Albus aurum Clepsydra,  
In his fatalist moments,  
all wrongs are correct,  
Children of Hell, Ocean, Witchcraft, and brains,  
Your match may have been met.'  
_  
As soon as the prophecy had ended, Rachel slumped forward, only to be caught be the Stoll brothers, who were used to this. They sat her back down with them at the Hermes table.  
Sasha abruptly stood up from her seat.  
"I want to go." She said, her voice final and steady. Nico waited for Percy to object, but he never did. However, Nico was able to notice Sasha glare down at her brothers, and wondered what _that_ was all about. Arya stood, following suit after Sasha.  
"I volunteer as tribute!" She said, attempting to lighten the mood by referencing the Hunger Games. Sasha offered a strained smile. Annabeth stood and looked as if she were about to argue about this, but Orlando quickly stood at his table.  
"I'll go too." He said, and Annabeth turned to look cautiously at her sister before sitting back down. All eyes slowly turned to Nico. He raised an eyebrow, biting a French fry in half and twirling the other between his fingers awkwardly.  
Then Sasha spoke to him for the first time in weeks.  
"Well?"  
Her tone gave away no emotion. She stared at him expectantly, her eyes empty. Nico couldn't tell whether she _wanted_ him involved in this quest or not. And at that moment, Nico couldn't help but think of her as something like an automaton—no heart, no brain.  
No emotions.  
Nico rolled his eyes and stood, French fry still in hand.  
"Yeah, alright. I guess I'm the only child of Hell here, so I'm kinda obliged to be in this."  
He turned to look at Sasha, but her eyes wouldn't meet his. You know, not that he cared.  
He sat back down, listening to all the events that would occur, discussions of transportation, and other tactics. He heard Percy and Annabeth butt in at several times. He couldn't help but smirk when Sasha got fed up and asked her brother to 'Please just shut up!'.  
Lol.  
Finally, he left the pavilion, making his way down to the beach with Arya, Orlando, Jonathan, Leo, Ryan, Garrett, Travis and Connor, and Sasha. Not that Nico tried acknowledging Sasha. Her attitude towards him wasn't any different, though, either.  
Of course, they were all talking about the quest. Nico took part in the conversation at times while Sasha sat off to the side, simply gazing beyond the beach.  
Arya suddenly sighed and threw her hands up in exasperation.  
"_You two_ -" she said, gesturing to Nico and Sasha, "-are unbelievable. It's been_ weeks_. Whatever issues you have with one another, _get over them."_  
Sasha remained silent, but Nico saw she had closed her eyes, and her face was slightly twisted; cringed with Nico didn't understand what. Nico himself remained silent, too. He didn't really have anything to say. After a while, Sasha simply stood up and left. Everyone turned to Nico, who watched her silhouette shrink, every second longer feeling like a harder punch in the gut than the previous.  
"But," Arya said, incredulously turning back to the others, "you guys are gonna have to go on a quest. Together."


	28. Author's Note

Hey! Before I say anything I want to just thank everyone who faved/followed/reviewed this fic! It was my first up on this website and it means a lot to me that so many people liked it enough to take the time to read it (long as it is) I love you guys so much.  
Also, I posted the first chapter of the sequel fic, titled 'Heart of Gold'. Try to check it out whenever you can :)

~Lola ;)


End file.
